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EAST CAROLINA MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW
RADM WILLIAM H. ASHFORD, JR., USN(RET)
INTERVIEW #1
DECEMBER 7, 1978
My name is William Henry Ashford, Jr. I was born in the town of
Watkinsville, Georgia on August 1, 1903. My parents were William Henry
Ashford and Harriet (Hallie) Quillian Ashford. My mother graduated from
LaGrange Female College, LaGrange, Ga.--the oldest Woman's College in the
world. She had the highest average of any woman who had ever attended.
My father attended Emory College at Oxford, Ga. I attended grammar school
at the Watkinsville Public School until about grade four when my family
decided to move to Athens, Georgia where there were better schools for
their four children. I graduated from Athens High School number six in
a class of fifty-four. I was a member of the football, basketball, and
baseball teams for two years. I managed the football team for two years
and was captain of the basketball team for one year. I entered the
University of Georgia at Athens in 1921 with the Class of 1925 and decided
to work for a degree in civil engineering. After one year I changed to
business administration. I was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity and played
on the freshman football team as quarterback. I attended the university
for two years and two summer schools, and would have registered as a senior
had I returned.
In the spring of 1923 I decided that I would like to enter the Naval
Academy. I had previously had an alternate appointment when I was a senior
in high school. After entering the Naval Academy, I elected to go out for
wrestling. During plebe summer I won my weight in wrestling. During my
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last two years at the academy I was on the varsity squad with my brother,
George, who captained the team during his last two years, became National
Intercollegiate, and National A. A. U. Champion in his weight, and went
to the Olympics in 1932 as an Ensign. Otherwise my four years at the Naval
Academy were routine. I graduated the exact middle man of my class--290
in a class of 580.
Our first class summer was set aside as aviation summer. During the
two previous summers we made cruises with the second and third classes. I
had the idea of one day becoming a pilot. My first flight was rather an
eventful one. The plane I flew in was an F5L seaplane powered by two
liberty engines. We proceeded from the Naval Academy down the Chesapeake
Bay toward Norfolk. After going about seventy miles, the crankshaft on one
of the engines broke, and the plane was forced down in Chesapeake Bay. The
pilot was unable to taxi on one engine without having the pontoon on the
opposite side drag in the water;so I was elected to go out on the pontoon,
wrap my legs around it, and sit there for six hours like a drowned rat
until we got back to the Naval Academy. That flight is the number one
entry in my first flight log.
After graduating from the Naval Academy, my first duty was on the
battleship WEST VIRGINIA which was the flagship of Commander Battleshi?s,
Pacific Fleet, Vice Admiral Louis Nulton. My first assignment was in the
gunnery department, then as ship's signal officer. I was also given the
collateral duty as Aide to the Executive Officer, Commander R. A. Theobald.
This was a new and novel assignment as I was given the job of going ashore
and trying to get enlisted men acquitted in court when they got into trouble
and came up for a hearing. I learned the names of most of the judges up
and down the West Coast, and I was sometimes permitted by the judge to
-3
argue cases in court for the defense. By promising the judge that the men
would be brought before the captain's mast, he generally let them off.
I recall one interesting experience which involved a coxswain in my
division who was also an outstanding gun captain in our 16" gun turret.
He was a young bachelor, good looking, and a devil with the women. He was
charged with fathering a child out of wedlock,.. and a claim was filed by
the rrother in the District Court in Los Angeles for support of the child.
The judge hearing the case was a woman. Her final decision was that the
coxswain would be required to pay $25 per month for the support of the child.
On our return to the ship I asked him what he planned to do about
the decision. He had no income other than his pay as a coxswain in the
Navy, and I knew that such pay could not be garnisheed. He thought for a
rroment and then said, "Sir, if it had been a boy I wouldn't mind paying,
but I already have three girls in east coast ports." It seems that he had
transferred to the West Coast to escape being jailed for non-support in
similar cases. Still another port was being closed to him as a liberty
port.
My duties in the gunnery department were to supervise the powder train
from the lower handling room up to a powder supply room and transfer the
powder bags to a shuttle that went to the guns. My boss, whom I had
known back at the Naval Academy, was known as "Bucket of Blood" Holloway.
He later became a four-star admiral (James L. Holloway) and he led our
forces into Lebanon when we occupied the capital of that country. He was
commander of the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean at that time. His son
has just retired as Chief of Naval Operations (James L. Holloway, Jr.)
this past six months.
[Where did he get his nickname?]
-4
He was an instructor in the Gunnery Dept. at the Naval Academy, and
the midshipmen named him "Bucket of Blood" Holloway because he was such a
strict disciplinarian, because he was so tough and you could hear his roar
for one-half mile away when someone made a "boo-boo." One day we had some
problems in the powder train, and the powder was slow in getting to the
guns. He was determined to establish a fleet record with his turret, and
he did. After the delay he called down over the voice tube and just
blistered my tail, "What the goddamned hell is going on down there; why
can't you get that powder up?" He made me so mad I fired back: "You look
after your own damn business; get the goddamned bullets out and stop worrying
about the powder. It'll be there.u" After that episode I thought that I
had had it. That evening he walked into my room and said, "You know Bill,
I had been a little bit worried about that powder situation until you called
back up over the voice tube this afternoon. Now I have no more qualms about
it.u" That was the kind of man he was. I was an ensign at the time fresh
out of the Naval Academy, and he was a lieutenant, senior grade. Shortly
thereafter, I had the opportunity to go to Pensacola and take flight training.
I went and talked with Lt. Holloway and asked him what he thought. He
said, "By all means. You've been two years on this ship; and you're on the
crest of the wave. You've got nowhere to go but down. So always move on
when you're on the crest of the wave.u" So I went to Pensacola for flight
training.
[Were you recommended for some special letter of commendation and
silver life saving medal while you were on the WEST VIRGINIA?]
Yes. During one of our operations, we put into Honolulu. One
Saturday afternoon a lot of us went ashore. About midnight we were waiting
on the dock for the boat to return us to the ship. We had a chaplain
-5
aboard with the rank of Commander who always hit the bottle heavily when
ashore, and was generally drunk when he came back to the ship. We were
sitting on a rail together. It was raised about eighteen inches above the
dock. We had our backs to the water. Suddenly he tumbled over backwards
into the water; he was so drunk that he couldn't sit up. Immediately I
slipped off my coat and shoes and dove in after him. I went down and
couldn't see him. I came to the surface to look and heard my roow.mate say,
"Dive. " So I dove again??, and this time I went down about eight or ten
feet. He had been swimming downward; he was so disoriented. I saw a dark
object near the piling but it was not moving. I swam to it and grabbed
the seat of his trousers and struggled to the surface. When we got to
the surface,he revived somewhat and started fighting me. About that time
a boat that had been called came around and picked us up. I had my watch
on, and the senior aviator on the Staff of Commander Battleships--Commander
Calvin Durgin (later Vice Admiral) made him replace it with a new watch,
which I still have. The captain of the "Wee Vee," as she was affectionately
known, was Wat Tyler Cluverious, Jr., later Admiral. He recommended me for
a silver life saving medal, which I now have.
After leaving the WEST VIRGINIA, I went to N. A. S. Pensacola for
flight training. I had little trouble at Pensacola. However, after
finishing light seaplane training in Squadron One, I moved on to light
land-plane training, and there an incident occurred which ended in making a
water landing. One day when I was not scheduled to fly, I asked the dispatcher
to give me a plane. I wanted to take it out just to keep my hand in.
Well, he let me have it; even though I was not supposed to fly that day.
On my first flight in that squadron my instructor, a Marine corps sergeant,
flew under the high tension power lines--the wheels almost touching the
-6
ground. That almost scared me to death. When he saw the look on my face,uhe
smiled and said, "I did that just because I wanted to show you what not to
do.u" In squadron two, there was a very small air field to be used only by
the instructors to demonstrate a special landing technique. It was called
Clay Pitts Field. There you would put the plane in a very steep side slip
and skid in sideways,then straighten out quickly, touch wheels to the
ground, then give her the gun and get out using full power. That was the
true test of your skill but something that should be done only in an emergency.
When I got the plane on the day I was not supposed to fly, I decided
that I was going to try that stunt all by myself. I put it in the skid, but
I didn't straighten out in time, and sheared one wheel right back under the
fuselage. There I was airborne with only one wheel. Since I had no communications
with the ground, I flew back to the squadron so they could see my
predicament. Then an instructor took off in a plane and came alongside and
signaled me to follow him. He led me to an area in the Bay where a crash
boat was standing by. It was the policy for a land-plane to land in the water
if it had a disabled landing gear. Well, I landed in the water all right,
but it wasn't just the spot they had in mind. They wanted me to land in
deep water alongside the crash boat, so its crane would be right there to
pick me and the plane up. But I landed too close to the shore in water too
shallow for the crash boat,uand the plane went over on its back. I tripped
my safety belt and got out from underneath and walked ashore. The next day
I was called into the office of the Superintendant of Training, Comdr. T. L.
(Tommy) Sprague--later Admiral. He really chewed me out for taking a plane
without authority. But he said little about the landing. There was a well
known saying at that time, "When you can walk away from a landing it isn't
too bad.u" After the "chew out" he sent me back flying.
-7
The gosport method of communication between instructor and student
resulted in an amusing incident while I was undergoing flight training at
Pensacola. There was one instructor who would sometimes carry an extra
control stick with him in the front cockpit (they were detachable), and to
put his student under pressure to see his reaction he would throw the control
stick out of the plane and tell the student to take over. The word got around.
One day when he pulled the stunt on a student�, much to his alarm he saw the
student also throw a control stick out of the plane. He too had sneaked an
extra stick into his cockpit. That incident apparently stopped that kind of
horseplay. Otherwise, my career at Pensacola in flight training was uneventful.
[There was no radio communication of any kind on your planes?]
No, the only communication was through what they called a gosport. The
student put on a helmet with earphones and the instructor could talk to him
through a voice tube, but the student couldn't talk back to the instructor.
At that time our primary training planes had front and rear cockpits with the
instructor in front and the student in back. But this time I was in the
plane by myself,uand there was no means of outside communication other than
hand signals from someone flying alongside.
Incidently,my brother,George W. Ashford (now Rear Adm. Ret.),was also
an aviator. His plane crashed at Pensacola when he was taking flight training.
His instructor who was flying with him was knocked out when the plane capsized.
After freeing himself and coming to the surface and not seeing his
instructor, he dove down, unbuckled him, got him out of his parachute and
brought him to the surface. His life was saved and George was given a gold
lifesaving medal.
I was then ordered to the U.uS. S. TEXAS, which was the flagship of the
Commander, U.uS. Pacific Fleet, Admiral Henry A. Wiley. I was assigned to
-8
the aviation detail, and my job was to spot,ui.e. send by radio from plane to
ship, corrections of the fall of shots from the salvos of the 16" shells in
relation to the target. Prior to having planes on battleships, the man in
the foretop would spot target practice but his vision was limited due to low
elevation. This was one-target practice in which ten battleships were all in
line. Ten rafts were being towed and each ship was firing shells dyed with
a different color in salvos. When those ten battleships all fired at the
same time on ten different targets, it was something to behold. I don't
know how good my spotting was; I don't think it was very good the first time
around. After a year or two on the TEXAS, I requested transfer to the
heavy cruiser NORTHHAMPTON.
[Where was the TEXAS operating?]
It was normally operating in the Pacific, but it held maneuvers off
Culebra Island in the Carribean that year (1931) with the combined Atlantic
Fleet. At that time both my mother and father were in poor health and living
alone. I felt that it was advisable to try to get transferred to a ship
based at Norfolk to be closer to them. That request was granted and I was
transferred to the heavy cruiser NORTHHAMPTON attached to the aviation detail.
I was co-pilot to the squadron .commander, then Commander Felix Stump, who
later became a four-star admiral in command of the United States Pacific
Fleet based at Pearl Harbor. He was a sharp and incisive person who thought
quickly and acted quickly. We used powder catapults for plane take-offs,
landed at sea, and were picked up by the ship's crane. I was also his radio
operator flying in the rear cockpit. As squadron commander only his plane
had a radio and communication with the ships. Each ship had three planes
totaling twelve planes in the squadron of four ships. He had a habit of
pulling back quickly on the stick right after the catapult shot in order to
-9
keep the plane clear of water. That made the plane nose up too quickly to
suit me, and I was afraid that we might stall. When the plane lands, the
stablizer would be rolled all the way back,uand he would forget to roll it
forward to a neutral position before being shot off. I soon learned how to
remedy that. I would get up in the front cockpit and roll the stabilizer
forward a couple of turns before he showed up. After that we would go off
pretty smoothly; he never knew.
[What was naval aviation like at this time?]
Naval aviation played a defensive role; the principle use being made of
planes assigned to battleships and cruisers at that time was to assist the
gunnery department in spotting the ship's gunfire. The airplane extended
the range of eyesight beyond that of the foretop spotter. The carriers
(we only had the LANGLEY--converted from a collier and the SARATOGA and
LEXINGTON--converted from battle cruisers' hulls) were kept in the rear of the
battleships to offer fighter protection against air attacks on the battleships.
Their roll was purely defensive at that time. I'll get into that
concept a little later on of why there was a complete change in the tactical
employment of naval vessels just before Pearl Harbor. Then Task Forces were
built around one or rrore carriers as a nucleus, and the cruisers and destroyers
supported and protected the carrier rather than vice versa. For the first
time, the carrier was now being used as an offensive weapon for which it was
designed. The old battleships then in existance which were sunk at Pearl
Harbor played no part in the new Task Force concept because of their slow
speed (14 knots)u. Not one tactical publication had ever been written about
this new concept of carrier operation. We had to develop our own formations
and instructions. I'll get into that a little later on.
[The planes themselves were pretty simplistic, weren't they?]
-10
The planes on the battleships and cruisers were two-place observation
planes with a pilot and a co-pilot, gunner or radio operator, and they were
simple-engine seaplanes. The ship would make a ninety-degree turn and make
a slick; the planes would land immediately in the slick to leeward of the
ship, taxi under the crane, hook on, and then be picked up. If the weather
was too rough, you couldn't fly the planes off if they had to be picked up at
sea. They were there to protect the battleships; that was the philosophy.
Vice Adm. Halsey, Commander Carriers Pacific, commanded the first Carrier
Task Force, and his staff began the formulation of the first set of tactical
instructions governing its operations. I will go into that later on.
Upon completion of five years at sea, I was ordered to a twin-engine
twin-float patrol squadron (Patrol Squadron 3) based at N. A. S. Coco Solo
in the Canal Zone. The tour was rather routine except for a few noteworthy
events. The Navy had recently purchased a twenty-lens Fairchild mapping
camera, and they needed to conduct an aerial survey of the west coast of
Central and South America in order to correct existing charts of that area.
A group from my squadron was ordered to base at the little town of David in
northern Panama to do the job. We used three planes and one was a twin engine
land-plane specially equipped with the Fairchild camera rrounted in the belly
of the fuselage. My good friend,uLt. Phil Coffin,was in charge of the operation.
We surveyed the west coast of Panama and the west coast of Costa Rica. We
spent about three weeks on the project. There were no hotels in town, and
we lived with a Panamanian family. We learned much of the customs and life
of rural Panamanians.
During my tour at Coco Solo I was assigned to Shore Patrol in the city
of C.Ol6n, Panama. The Col&i crime rate was the third highest in the world
after Singapore and Port Said. I had the eight to twelve shift at night.
-11
The person who relieved me was a Chief Petty Officer named Lundershiff who
had been born in Russia. He was one of the most unforgettable characters
I've ever known. I would stay on and walk his patrol with him long after
being relieved, just to hear this remarkable man's story. He was educated
at the Imperial Cavalry School in Russia during the time of the Czars and
served as a Cossack. He left Russia and went to France by way of Turkey.
There he joined the French Navy and served in it for awhile before he came
to the United States and joined the u. S. Navy. Before the Spanish-American
War, Teddy Roosevelt was Asst. Secretary of the Navy and had an interest in
a canal between the Atlantic and Pacific. In 1901 Teddy Roosevelt became
President and had his eye on the Panama Canal. History records that after
he became President he drafted a recommendation to Congress for seizure of
the Isthmus of Panama by force. In his autobiography he stated, "I took
Panama without consulting the Cabinet.u" Teddy Roosevelt, according to
Lundershiff, picked fifty men out of the U.uS. Navy and sent them to Colombia
for infiltration into the Colombian Navy. Lundershiff was one of those
fifty men. When Panama declared its independence from Colombia in 1903,
a U. s. Naval force was anchored in Col6n harbor. The u. S. recognized
Panama's independence three days after the declaration. A group of Colombian
ships??-about three-or four--carne into Colo'n harbor and national salutes were
exchanged between the U.S. Navy and the Colombian Navy. There was an
admiral in charge of the Colombian force who came over to call on the American
admiral. That admiral was Lundershiff. He came aboard the American flagship,
took off his admiral's uniform, and put on a chief petty officer's uniform of
the U.uS. Navy. He received the first pilot's license issued when the
Panama Canal was completed. When Teddy Roosevelt came to Panama, he decorated
Lundershiff for his accomplishments. Lundershiff was married to the
sister of Harmodio Arias, then President of the Republic of Panama. He was
-12
seventy-two years old then but very young looking, straight as a ram-rod, and
active for his age. He had a long, curling white mustache--a most imposing
/
figure. He was known to every dope peddler and every prostitute in Colon.
When we walked his beat, I noted that he knew them all by their first names.
When any sailor got into trouble, he walked in the Magistrate's office and in
a few minutes that sailor was cleared and put in the custody of Lundershiff
and sent back to the base.
[At seventy-two he was allowed to remain on active duty?]
Yes. It was because he was so valuable as a patrol officer. It was a
frequent occurrence for hoodlums to snatch a sailor's hat when he was drunk,
then run up an alleyway and when he followed, roll him and take all his
money and often even his shoes. The situation became so bad that a few
sailors decided they were going to do something about it. So one night
they played drunk and walked near dark alleyways until one had his hat
snatched. When the thief ran up the alleyway, another sailor was waiting
with a brick in his hand. The next morning a young Panamanian's dead body
was found by the Panama police with a cracked skull. No charges were ever
filed. You could buy a juror's vote for about two dollars, and the average
time in jail for conviction for murder down there in 1932 was a couple of
years.
I never tired of hearing Lundershiff tell the stories of his career. We
would be walking down a narrow street together, and there would be some
young bucks coming in the opposite direction. He would say, ''Don't you budge
an inch; make them get out in the street. The dog licks the hand of the
master." That's the kind of character he was. He was invaluable to our
forces in that job. He was there on the midnight shift all of the time I
was on duty in Panama for two years. I listened to his life history for
-13
many hours and believed his story. He was still a chief petty officer and
spoke four languages--Russian, French, English and Spanish.
[Were there any particular incidents involved in the patrol plane
operations themselves in the Canal Zone?]
The operations were routine. However, the fact that we had two successful
years without a serious casualty was due in large measure to the two
outstanding officers who commanded the squadron. The first was Commander
Leo Compo. He was not a Naval Academy graduate but had come up through the
ranks. He was an "Early Bird" aviator--one of the first,.-and knew flying from
the ground up like few people did. Our patrol squadron--the only one ever to
have twin floats made landings rather tricky. This was particularly true
if the landing was not made in smooth waters as the twin floats would make
the plane bounce, if the touchdown was not exactly right. The plane was
called the P2.D, built by Douglas Aircraft, and the floats were interchangeable
with wheel landing gear. That was supposed to be an advantage at that
time (1933). But because of the disadvantages of twin floats--no more such
planes were ever bought by the Navy. Leo Compo was "Gung-Ho" all the way.
His drive and expertise during that first year was a major factor in our
good performance and safety record. The other C. O. was Commander Val
Schaeffer (later Rear Adm. V. H. Schaeffer). Although having an entirely
different personality,he was equally effective as a leader and had long
aviation experience.
We held maneuvers with the Pacific Battle Fleet each year off the West
Coast of Central America, and our squadron would be based on a tender
anchored in ports in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. We found the fishing to be
good. All in all the duty was somewhat dull for a bachelor. There was a lot
of time for golf and beer drinking.
-14
There were four bachelors at N. A. S. Coco Solo, and we lived in a large
room next to the crew's galley because there were no bachelor officer quarters
during my first year. At 4:u30 in the morning the pots and pans would start
clinking so it was no more sleep for us. When it rained-and it did for six
months during the rainy season--the deck would become flooded at times. We
had a cot to sleep on and a metal locker for our clothes. If it got too bad,
we would clear out and go into Colon to our favorite bar and order up a keg
of beer. You could get a chilled beer in a two??gallon keg or up to any
amount you wanted. We had a submarine base at Coco Solo, an Air Force base
across the way, and coast artillery units stationed at Fort Gatun,uso there
were a lot of military people down there but rrost were married. We had been
entertained a lot, and before we left Panama we decided to give a party for
all of the people of the three services who had been so nice to us. Four of
us rented the upper story of the Palace of Silver Spray at the Balboa Brewery
in Colon and hired an orchestra. It was a large room, and we invited 125
people. It was to be a party to end all parties for awhile. The party
started at five o'clock in the afternoon. It ended in a game of musical
chairs. We had a game in which everybody would line up in two teams
being chosen by a team captain. Each person would have a full stein of beer
on the floor beside him. As soon as the person next to you finished his
stein and returned it to the floor, the next person would pick up his stein
and gulp it down, and so on down the line. The team who finished first
would win. After a couple of these games, the party would get swinging.
At two o'clock in the morning I couldn't take any more; but there were still
people up there going strong. I went down to pay the bill, and the owner
said, "Well, you had a mighty good party; there's only been one better and
that was the American Legion's party on election night. They drank 150
-15
gallons of beer and you are paying me for 134." So I paid him for 134
gallons of beer. We had hams and turkeys and a lot else to help sustain us.
That was our sendoff from Coco Solo. I've been a lover of draft beer ever
since. We played golf regularly on Gatun Lake and the area surrounding
Gatun Locks.
I had a friend there who was a civilian employee of the Canal Zone
Authority and whose job was to meet and inspect all incoming vessels transiting
the canal. I used to go out with him and board some of those vessels,
and I learned that rrnst passenger-carrying cargo vessels carried a maximum
of twelve passengers; anymore and the law required them to carry a doctor.
Those ships had outside cabins and all passengers ate at the Captain's table.
The most interesting people you will ever meet were travelling on them.
That was particularly true of the Dutch and Scandinavian lines. They were as
clean as a whistle.
When the SARATOGA or LEXINGTON transited the canal, they cleared by
only six inches on each side and invariably they would lm.ock down a few of
the lampposts along the locks.
I went fishing in a rrntorboat off Portobelo, Panama. It was known as
one of the places that the Spaniards had often raided seeking gold. It was
a small village and pad recorded the heaviest rainfall of any place in the
world--five inches in one hour as I recall. With a couple of my friends;
we were trolling in close to the rocks, and the boat hit a submerged reef.
Luckily, the three of us were able to swim out with the anchor, drop it, and
then pull the boat off the reef. Our engine had conked out. We almost
lost the boat and our lives as well. Fortunately for us there was a banana
boat that happened to be passing by, and it towed us into Portobelo harbor
where we anchored, and slept from exhaustion. After waking up, we cleaned up
-16
the boat and succeeded in getting the motor running. We left Portobelo
and headed south to a little cove that had been our original destination.
Upon our arrival--it was late Saturday afternoon--we saw a cabin cruiser
anchored there and dropped our anchor close by. It belonged to Major Lou
Brereton, commanding officer of France Field at Coco Solo. He and his wife
were aboard and had come for the weekend as we had. We were good friends and
they hailed us and invited us over for a drink. "The sun had gone over the
yardarm." Lou Brereton--later Lt. General U.uS. Air Force was also a graduate
of the Naval Academy. His boat towed a small skiff so he rowed over for us.
After dinner Lou suggested that we go ashore and see something of the
native night life. He had been there before, and he knew the natives. We
did--ih the little skiff which he had in tow. He also took along a gallon
of gin. It was about nine o'clock when we got to a little village of grass
huts and everything was dark. He woke up the Chief who came out, and Lou
said, "Let's have a party." The Chief broke out everybody and took the gallon
of gin and passed it around. They built a campfire and the drums and tom-toms
appeared. As time went on the beat became louder and louder and the dancing
became more animated and sexy. It was quite a show. You would see a couple
slip away into the bushes once in awhile. I had never seen such dancing
before, or since.
On another occasion we drove down one Sunday afternoon to the last
village on the road leading south from Panama City. There the road dead
ends and there was nothing but jungle until you reached Colombia. There was
a row of houses on either side and a little amphitheater with seats around
it. That was their cock fighting pit. All of the elders would meet on
Sunday afternoon--no women were present--and they would have cock fights and
bet on their favorite. We watched those cock fights and saw the tension
-17
mount to a feverish pitch. They would condition their cocks by taking a
mouth full of whiskey and spitting it under their wings to get them agitated
and then throw them in the pit at the same rroment. They had steel spurs on,
and one good blow could kill a bird. It was an interesting sight.
When they built the BOQ during my second year,uthey decided to give us
a place to swim, so an arm of the bay was screened off with wire mesh to
keep out crocodiles and barracudas. However, small barracudas would come
in, and grow up and then become somewhat of a menace. On the other side of
the airfield there was jungle, and one time a crocodile crossed the field and
got into our "pool." He caused the "pool" to be closed until they caught
him.
The rainfall there is just something out of this world. For about six
months of the year you had to keep lights burning in your closet all of the
time to keep the dampness from rrolding your clothes.
When I was at David, all of the people from the surrounding territory
would come to town on Saturday night and walk around the village square.
The girls would walk around in one direction and the boys would walk around
in another. If a girl had a flower on one side of her head,uit meant she was
looking; if it was on the other side,it meant she was married. The chaperons
would sit around and watch. No girl would go out with a boy unless they
were chaperoned.
I met a dentist who was a graduate of Temple University. He invited me
to go hunting with him. We shot dove, duck and parrots. Then he invited
me into his home for lunch. He spoke perfect English, was well dressed and
the most prominent man in town. He and his rrother lived in a four-room
house. It came as a surprise to me to see this relatively wealthy man
live as all the other natives did. All rooms except the kitchen had dirt
-18
floors and no furniture except a bed and no heat. They lived mostly in the
kitchen, which had a floor and a stove. Apparently that was the way his
mother wanted to live; that was the way she was brought up and that was the
way she was going to keep it.
I was invited by a friend of mine from France Field to go over to Panama
City for a weekend of horse racing--there was a railroad that ran across the
Isthmus. He was an inveterate gambler; his name was Captain Rod Ott, U.uS.
Army air aviator. He would go to Panama City often and play poker with
wealthy Panamanians at the Panama City Club. He was an excellent poker player,
and he generally won. The way some Panamanians paid off their debts to him
when they had lost heavily would be to give him tips on the horse races.
They had to have so many horses to run a race, but most were nags that couldn't
win a race. Most of the races were rigged. When owners got too far behind
in feed bills for their horses, a race was rigged so that a long-shot would win.
This was of course known to the other owners. He would bet on the long-shot
selected to win and recoup his winnings in that way.
At that time there were about four families who ran the country, and the
Presidency (of Panama) was rotated among those families. They were the Arias
family, the Arosmenas and a couple of other families whose names I don't recall.
Two of the Arias girls often met with our little social group called the Virgin
Sturgeon Club. We met every Sunday and once a month at poolside at the Panama
City Club--always with a keg of beer on tap. They were crazy to marry an American
officer, and they were going to any lengths to catch one. I don't think
either one of them was successful, but God knows they tried.
There was some agitation down there at that time over sovereignty in the
Canal Zone. Later on they demonstrated against flying the American flag in
-19
Cristobal, C. z. They were pacified for a time when we agreed to fly the
American flag beside the Panamanian flag. From my knowledge of the politics,
I think we just made a hell of a boo-boo in agreeing to turn the
canal over to that pro-communist dictator down there. In my opinion the
Soviets have been back of the unrest all along, and will be in there with
a base in time. The tried to put a sub base in Cuba, and Nixon made them
take it out. I think it's the rrost disastrous. mistake we have made since
we abrogated the Monroe Doctrine. That Doctrine had done rrore to keep the
Westerri H??misphere fr.ee and independent than anything 'else, but we abrogated
it when we let the Soviets come into Cuba and �take over??-?? The Monroe-Doctrine
is now a dead duck. We're in.there now; we can hold it; we've got it in
perpetuity; to give it away is foolhardy in my opinion.
Another interesting experience was a visit to the San Blas Islands,
about 75 miles south of Colon located in the Gulf of San Blas. The inhabitants
of that group of islands lying a few miles off the east coast of
Panama are all pure blood San Blas Indians. They can be recognized anywhere-short,
stocky with hair cut in bangs covering. their forheads. No man other
than a member of the tribe was ever allowed to stay overnight on any of
the islands, and the females were never allowed to leave. A few of the men
were employed at Coco Solo, and occasionally,the chief would come for a
visit. We became friendly and he invited a group of us to fly down and
visit the islands. Three of our patrol planes flew down and anchored offshore
of the main island. The Indians were there to take us ashore in
canoes with outriggers. The canoes had been hewn out of mahogany logs
with machetes and were quite narrow. The huts were made of palm fronds
and grass. The only furniture was a stool about a foot high hewn out of
mahogany. It had two runners extending beyond the seat curved to fit one's
-20
seat. It was all in one piece and quite heavy. I offered to buy one and
the woman said something I could not understand. I held up a 50-cent
piece and she took it. I have the stool in my home now and it is a con
versation piece. All of the women wore rings in their nose. They appeared
to be gold bands. I understand now that cruise ships stop there on
occasion.
While I was at Coco Solo,I met the widow of an officer who was killed
on the dirigible AKRON. Her name was Dorothea Brevoort Wescoat. My best
friend and roommate Cy Clendening (Lt. C. T. Clendening) was also killed
on the AKRON while I was down there. I am the godfather of his only child.
When I returned to the states,uDorothea and I were married in 1934. A
year later a daughter was born to us. We named her Moselle after my
sister,,Dr. Moselle Q. Ashford. She married John O. Converse. They have
twin boys. The marriage did not last, and we were divorced in 1938.
After Coco Solo I was assigned to the U.uS. S. RANGER based at Norfolk,
Virginia. That was the. first U.s?? �naval.vessel-built from the -keel up as�� a carrier.
The LANGLEY was a,. converted collier as I. have previously mentioned, and
the SARATOGA and LEXINGTON were converted from the hulls of battle cruisers
that were saved after the disarmament treaty in Geneva in 1929. There we
gave up everything, practically,in the large naval ship building program
then underway. I was assigned to Dive Bombing Squadron 3 on the RANGER.
While there the first cold-weather test of carrier aircraft operations and
equipment ever made was conducted. The aircraft engines were especially
fitted with propane gas for easy starting. Propane is more volatile than
gasoline. We went to Hartford, Connecticut for a month to test things out
on the ground. This was in January of 1935. In February, 1935, the
RANGER went to the northern-most body of water in Alaska, which is Cook
-21
Inlet. It was frozen over solid in the northern portion because there
you had flow-ice from the glaciers. The RANGER launched and landed
aircraft at a speed of 25-30 knots in three or four inches of solid ice
covering Cook Inlet. When the ship charged through that ice, the noise
was terrific. I took off from the ship and landed with a thousand-pound
bomb as a part of that test. We were all apprehensive; we didn't know
how things were going to work. Fortunately, while we were up there, the
Coast Guard brought a bush pilot aboard. He said, "Your planes will never
get off this deck unless you remove the rime ice from the wings and tail
surfaces.u" We didn't know what rime ice was. It's a kind of a frost that
gathers on the wings and destroys the lift when planes are parked on the
flight deck. You can't detect it by eye aloneu. You detect it by taking
your fingernail and scraping the wing's surface. If a little white substance
comes up, that's rime ice. Fortunately, we learned this before we
flew off any planes. We would take the planes down below on the hanger
deck, warm them up, dry them off, and then bring them up to fly off.
Alaska is an amazing place. In Cook Inlet we would have two anchors
down because the holding ground, being volcanic, is poor. A "williwaw"
would come up suddenly. That's a wind sixty-five to seventy miles an
hour. We would have no warning and soon learned to keep steam up on the
boilers and the sea detail posted. The ship would start dragging the two
anchors, flight quarters would be sounded immediately and the ship would
get underway in order to ride it out. The wind came down from the glaciers
and generally wouldn't last long. You could stand on the deck of a ship
and see four types of weather by looking in four different directions-rain,
sunshine, snow, and fog. The weather conditions there are amazing,
and we had no weather warning stations then to aid us.
-22
[That made it rather hazardous to operate, didn't it?]
Yes, the flying conditions were extremely hazardous, and you have to
take your hat off to those bush pilots who keep alive up there. The major
credit for the success of our mission, I feel, should go to our Squadron
Commander, Lucian A. Moebus--later, Vice Admiral Moebus. His planning was
exemplary and his leadership outstanding. My wife, Bette, and I made a
trip summer before last up into Glacier Bay which has become Glacier Memorial
National Park. The bay was narrow with high mountains on each side. It
extended for eighty miles. The freezing level was at two thousand feet
and 17 glaciers flowed into the bay. It looked like the fiords in Norway,
but here the rrountains were all ice-covered. We went up the bay for
eighty miles. U.uS. Forest Rangers were aboard explaining the history of
the bay. They told us that two hundred years ago it was all one solid
ice pack, and no ship could get in there. Now, the melting process has
reversed and the ice pack is starting to cover the bay again and scientists
predict that in two hundred rrore years the bay will be covered over with
ice again, and no cruise ship will be able to go where we went. It's a
strange phenomenon. It's primitive; you don't see anything but Indian
fishing villages up there.
From the RANGER, my squadron was transfered to the carrier LEXINGTON
on the West Coast. I was flying number two wing with the squadron commander
who was then Commander Joe Bolger (later Vice Admiral Joseph F. Bolger).
I was radio operator for the squadron--we had only one radio in the squadron
then and it was key radio, not voice. We were operating off the Gulf of
Tehuante Pee, on the wes_t .coast of Mexico. We .wer,e on the: fringe of -a hurJ?icane
in high winds. We had completed a search operation, and were ready
to return to the ship. I sent a message to the ship and asked for a steer
-23
back to the ship. (At that time our carriers didn't have unilateral
direction finders; they were bilateral, and the ship took cross bearings
on my signal when I held the key down for some time.) They gave us a
steer, but I never passed on to the squadron commander the information
that the ship had twice confirmed our steer because I was suspicious.
Finally, Joe realized that something was wrong and turned around on his
own when he realized that we must be on a reverse course. They had given
us a steer of 180 degrees off, and we were going out to sea away from the
ship, not toward it. There had been a mistake by the radio officer aboard
the ship. Joe reversed course and my squadron got back aboard; one plane
ran out of gas taxiing up the deck. But the fighter squadron that was out
on the same operation had three planes go in the water while in the landing
pattern. Fortunately, the plane-guard destroyers were trereuto pick them up
promptly. If they had not been within sight of the ship, the seas were so
heavy they would have all been lost. Fortunately, we have equipment now
that doesn't have that danger element. But that was a very close call with
all of the airplanes from that one ship out there getting a bum steer.
The squadron commander of the fighter squadron (VF2) that had three planes
land in the water out of gas was Lt. Comdr. Andy (Andrew) Crinkley, a
native of Raleigh, N. C.
[I imagine the radio officer aboard ship had his head roll, didn't
he?]
Well, he should have, I guess, but the captain would have had his
head roll too if it had come out differently. The commanding officer of
the LEXINGTON was Captain Aubrey W. Fitch--later Admiral. He had been in
my flight class at Pensacola when he was a commander and was a life-long
friend to me.
-24
Flying in the rear seat with me that day was Captain Emory Scott Land,
.
later to become Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair of the Navy. He
was appointed to Rear Admiral and Vice Admiral by special act of Congress
because at that time the Chief of Bureau of Construction and Repair did
not hold flag rank. After the flight he told me that he believed all
along that we had been given a course based on a reverse bearing--but he
said nothing of it during the flight.
While I was on the LEXINGTON, we had an operation planned to test the
defenses of Pearl Harbor. The carriers launched a surprise attack. From
the carriers' standpoint it was a complete success. We got in there
undetected and knocked the hell out of all the defending bases. Now,
apparently, some of our high command didn't learn anything from that operation
but the Japs sure as hell did.
[When was this?]
It was in 1936.
From there I was ordered to VP-11, a patrol squadron of PBY's, and I
was the radio officer. We flew the X-PBY which was the first experimental
plane off the line; we trained our pilots in that plane. After all of our
planes had been received, we made the second mass flight of twelve planes
in a squadron from North Island (Coronado, Ca.) to Pearl Harbor. The
flight took twenty-four hours. The complement of the PBY crew was the
pilot, co-pilot, radio operator, and engineer. During that twenty-four
hour flight, each plane commander had to take three star sights and work
out a fix of his plane's position every two hours and send it to the
squadron commander where they were plotted. The mean of these fixes was
used as our position. Then I had to go back and relieve the co-pilot
at the wheel because one gpy can't fly forever.
-25
The first PBY squadron (VP-6) that proceeded us (North Island to Pearl
Harbor) had a hell of a time. They got into all sorts of weather that had
not been predicted and barely made it. The PBY plane was capable of staying
aloft for thirty-three hours. Admiral Ernest J. King was then Commander
Aircraft Battle Force. After the bum weather predictions that the meterorologists
had put out for VP-6, he required them to make a prediction
everyday of the weather between Coronado and Pearl Harbor, and send it to
him. He also told them that they were going to make the next flight with
VP-11. So we had good weather predictions; we flew over the top and
everything went off smoothly.
While we were based at Pearl Harbor, Admiral King became so enamored
with the fact that he had a plane that could stay aloft thirty-three hours
that he scheduled operations that were driving his pilots to exhaustion.
The result was a series of crashes with pilots flying into mountains in
broad daylight, and several aviators requested transfer to regular line
duty. No pilot is ordered to flying duty unless he requests it. Pilots were
just giving it up, saying it was not worth the hazards. The Boards of
Investigation covering the crashes caused the pressure to be eased.
I took off from French Frigate Shoals one afternoon with two other
PBY planes. French Frigate Shoals is about halfway between Pearl Harbor
and Midway Island. We were ordered to arrive off Hilo, Hawaii at daybreak,
reconnoiter every island in the Hawaiian chain, come back and land at the
French Frigate Shoal and fuel from the LANGLEY. The flight consumed
twenty-five hours. All night we were flying over the top in formation at
ten thousand feet. I calculated that we were approaching the island of
Maui , by dead reconning, and I went back and checked the chart to determine
the height of the highest mountain on Maui. My God, I saw that it was ten
-26
thousand feet, and I said, "We've got to get up fast." We got up just in
time. We had been flying all night without a fix and didn't know exactly
where we were, but we could have been over Maui and we were. We cleared
it by about five hundred feet. They had a board of inquiry on all of these
crashes, and they concluded that the pilots were being driven to exhaustion.
Also they had testirrony from the pilots and plane crews who were "Turning
In Their Suits.u" He (Admiral King) was a genius, but, my God, he was
something to work with. However, the nation was fortunate to have him as
COMINCH during World War II and owes him a debt of eternal gratitude.
[Were there ever any repercussions?]
No. It was hushed up; they calmed it down. This was just an annual
fleet exercise and was over in a couple of months, and it was covered up.
As a matter of fact,the planes were woefully undermanned for flights of
such long duration. At times I have had to shake the radio operator
violently to wake him up and get a hearing.
From there I was ordered to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida.
The executive officer was Commander Jerry Bogan (later Vice Admiral Gerald
F. Bogan)u. He said, "You've been selected as Aide to the Connnandant.u"
The incoming cornmandant,who was Captain William F. Halsey, Jr., had
been selected for Rear Admiral. Rear Admiral Charles A. Blakely was the
outgoing connnandant. He later became Connnander Aircraft Battle Force
with the rank of Vice Admiral. I was put in a very swank bachelor officers
quarters; only two other bachelors lived in it. It was an� old two-story
building next to the commandant's quarters. Both building were part of the
original construction, a very old Naval base. Fitz Lee and I each had a
suite of rooms that joined. We became very close and firm friends, and we
bought some waterfront lots near the air station. He held on to his and
made a pile. I sold mine but came out all right.
-27
At Pensacola I learned something of the power exercised by our civil
service. I was in charge of the central administrative office, and the
chief clerk wanted to hire another messenger. I didn't know anything about
the civil service rules,u.so I got the book and started reading up on them.
You were required to pick one out of the top three who took the exam. So I
had them bring me in a list of the top three exams and accompanying data.
The chief clerk came in one day and said, "I've got your messenger in here
for you." I said, "But I haven't hired anybody.u" He said, "Well, I took
it upon myself to hire him.u" So I started looking into what was going on,
and I found that at N. A. S. Pensacola three chief clerks selected every
civil service employee that was hired, Disregarding� the rules, they hired
th.e,::up,eople they wanted to, and they were undoubtedly getting kickbacks from
it. Furthermore, a classmate of mine tipped me off to a report going
around to the effect that if I didn't stop looking into what was happening
in civil service hiring procedures,uthat they would have the congressman
see that I was detached.
Well, we had a man, a civil service employee,who plotted to blow up
the Naval hospital. We had the goods on him cold, and we sent it into the
civil service to get him debarred from further employment in the civil
service. I don't know what had happened, but he had gotten mad about something;
his job may have been changed. He tried to bribe the fireman in the
boiler room . of the hospital to let the water level go down so that the
boiler would blow up. The fireman submitted an affidavit to that effec??
and there was much additional incriminating evidence against him that was
compiled over a considerable period of time and submitted. So we sent it
all in, and they came back and said, "He is ineligible to hold a civil
service job for three rronths." That was the punishment they handed out.
-28
I realized then that the strongest union in this nation is our civil service.
The politicians pass laws and may think that they run the government, but
it is the civil service that implements the laws and they do it their way.
They run every aspect of the federal government and you can't touch them.
President Carter is trying to do something about it, but he's not going to
get to first base in my opinion. I learned what the civil service was all
about on that job. The clamor now is against the "Washington Bureaucrats"
but believe me, it isn't confined to Washington.
We had a visit at Pensacola from Lord Mountbatten because the British
wanted to learn something about our aviation training methods. I was
assigned as his aide while he was there.
When Admiral Halsey was ordered to sea, he asked me to go as his aide
and flag lieutenant, which I did. I stayed with him from four stripes to
four stars, for six years. During those years my duties were as follows:
aide to the commandant, N. A. S. Pensacola; aide and flag lieutenant at sea;
air tactical officer Task Force 16, Commander Aircraft Pacific; and operations
officer when he commanded the South Pacific area as full Admiral. During
this sea duty, he commanded Carrier Division Two (YORKTOWN and ENTERPRISE),
Carrier Division One (SARATOGA and LEXINGTON), Commander Carriers Pacific
with rank of Vice Admiral, Task Force 8 and Task Force 16. While Vice Admiral
Halsey was Commander Aircraft Battle Force, his title was changed to Commander
Carriers Pacific.
While I was on the SARATOGA, World War II broke out. I remember being
given the message at two o'clock in the morning stating that the Germans had
invaded Poland and that World War II had started.
When Admiral Halsey commanded Carrier Division Two, I had occasion
from time to time to go to Admiral King's flag ship, the SARATOGA, and
conduct business with his flag lieutenant who was Lieutenant Commander
-29
Donald (Don) Wilcox. He was personnel officer for all the carriers in the
Pacific,uand I was personnel officer for our Carrier Division so we had a
lot of business together. That job was in addition to our primary duty
of having charge of all visual communications and the Flag Signal Force.
I remember an incident that occurred while I was talking with Lt. Comdr.
Frank Akers, the Force Communications Officer, around noon. A gong sounded
and he jumped out of his seat and said, "Come on; lunch is ready." I was
to have lunch there with Admiral King and his staff. We rushed out of the
office, went to the admiral's cabin, lined up in the passageway outside.
We stood there until we heard eight bells. Then everybody filed in and
stood at their places behind their chairs. Sitting at his desk was Admiral
King. He looked up at the clock, took off his glasses, and got up and then
sat down at the head of the table. Then everybody sat down. There was a
hush. Little conversation took place during the entire meal and that in
low tones. This surprised me because it was such a contrast to the informality
of Admiral Halsey's mess, where conversation was lively and stimulating.
He would throw out a question, generally involving current operations, and
let everybody chew on it. The junior officer there had as much say as the
senior.
Admirals Halsey and King were both late comers to aviationu; so was
Vice Admiral Blakely. However, they lacked experience in an operating
squadron. The capabilities, limitations, problems, and difficulties of
carrier operations were not well known to them when they assumed command.
So Halsey would invite suggestions and even criticisms from his staff. He
would sit back and listen. Then he would make the final decision. Many
times he would take the advice of some of the junior members instead of
that of his Chief of Staff or senior members. He insisted on keeping his
-30
staff, who were members of his mess, small and he encouraged them to talk
about any and everything.
Admiral King didn't take much advice from his staff. Later on when our
merchant ship losses to German submarines became so severe in March, 1942,
something drastic had to be done. A decision was made to place one officer
in operational command of the entire U.uS. Navy. His title was to be
Commander-in-Chief United States Fleet, COMINCH for short. Rear Admiral
King, then serving his last tour on the Navy's General Board which drew
up plans and specifications for ships, was finished, or so most people
thought. He had been hitting the bottle pretty heavily, but he was a genius
of a kind. When the submarine menace became so desperate, Secretary of the
Navy Frank Knox called him in and said, "Ernie, I'm prepared to put you
in overall command, create a new office and make you COMINCH if you'll
promise me that you will never take another drop of alcohol as long as
you are in the job." Admiral King said, "You've got my promise.u" Secretary
of Navy Knox then said, "All right, you will be COMINCH.u" Rear
Admiral King had held the temporary rank of Vice Admiral when he was commander
of Air Battle Force. He walked out of the secretary's office and said,
"When the going gets tough, they send for the sons of bitches." He
jumped from two stars to four and assumed a job and responsibility that
no other person ever held before or since. He later got a fifth star by an
act of Congress. He was the right man for the job, without question I
certainly believe, that without him in that job, the war would have been
considerably longer and could have been lost in the Pacific. He supported
Admiral Halsey to the hilt in SOPAC and to quote Admiral Halsey, "It was
in the South Pacific where we broke their back." Admiral King fought the
Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Combined Chiefs of Staff to give us the means-
-31
as meager as they were, of finally turning the tide at Guadalcanal. Guadalcanal
was Admiral King's baby. General MacArthur wanted no part of it.
The J.uC. S. only reluctantly went along with Admiral King who said the
Navy and Marines will go it alone. He had the foresight then to know that
the "Canal" was the key. If lost, the Japs would overrun Australia, New
Zealand, Samoa, Fiji and control the rest of the South and Southwest Pacific.
The result would be-that the price of digging them out would probably have
been so prohibitive that a negotiated peace may have been made.
I asked his flag lieutenant Don Wilcox, "You've been with Admiral King
two years now and you're leaving. What do you think?" He said, "I wouldn't
take anything for the experience because the man is a genius, but I think if
I had to stay here another week, I'd go crazy."
[That sounds like it kind of questions his judgmentu, by his pushing
his men and being so formal.]
No man is big or broad enough to exclude all advice but Ernie King
was a special breed. He drove his men to the limit but you could not
beat him. When they made him COMINCH, he took direct control of the entire
anti-submarine effort, exercising it from his Washington headquarters. We
were about to go down the drain due to the great number of ships that were
being sunk by the German subs. He did a terrific job, and brought our shipping
losses under control. He was the right man in the right place at the right
time, in so far as the nation's survival was concerned.
EAST CAROLINA MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW
RADM WILLIAM H. ASHFORD, JR., USN{RET)
INTERVIEW #2
JANUARY 16, 1979
As the Navy began to build carriers following the success with the
U.S.S. LANGLEY, a converted collier, it became evident that by the time
carrier building or projected became operational there would be insufficient
aviators with seniority enough to command them. Albert C. Reed (Putty), who
was later a rear admiral and who first flew the Atlantic in the Navy's NC-4
seaplane in 1919, was an exception. He was Naval Aviator No. 24. He survived
to command the SARATOGA under Rear Admiral Halsey when he had the
Division. It was the Navy's policy to assign only naval aviators to command
aircraft tenders and carriers, and aviators of Captain Reed's vintage were
rare. In order to bridge the gap, the Navy requested volunteers from a
selected number of senior commanders and junior captains for flight training.
Aviator trainees have always been volunteers. Among those selected were King,
Halsey, Blakely, Fitch, and several others. They were required to take the
same training as the younger trainees except that fighter training was left
to their option. Halsey took it, and he was a good pilot. He loved to fly,
and we made many trips together in an SNJ training plane with dual controls.
It was a low wing monoplane and a great improvement over the biplanes, which
we called "yellow perils.u"
[Whom did Halsey train under?]
He went to Pensacola as a junior captain. I went to Pensacola in 1929,
but he went many years later, in order to qualify to command a carrier.
[ So he trained under whoever happened to be flight instructors at
that time.]
-33
That's right. One of his flight instructors was Lt. (Brom) Bromfield
B. Nichol, who later became his Aide and Flag Secretary, Asst. Operations
Officer and was on his staff for five years. He was also my best friend.
He retired as a rear admiral. I don't know who his other flight instructors
were. Halsey would fly from the front cockpit, and I as the co-pilot would
do the navigation from the rear cockpit. He made all of the takeoffs and
landings. We made frequent trips to Washington,uand on occasion, we would fly
to Wilmington, Delaware to see his daughter,uMargaret,uwho was married to Lee
Spruance, a DuPont executive. They lived near the private airfield owned
by the DuPont company, and we would land' there. Admiral Halsey's sister was
often present during those visits, and she jokingly nicknamed me the "Flying
Flag.u" The Admiral never gave me a bad moment in all of those flights.
However, the reverse was not true.
One day we were returning from one of these trips and had cleared for
Spartanburg, South Carolina where we were to fuel. In those days we did not
have radio beacons to guide us, and I was navigating from the rear cockpit
by making checkpoints on the chart supposedly every five or ten minutes.
The weather was good and I was enjoying the scenery--too much so. Soon I
realized that we were off course, and I didn't know just where we were.
was sure we were somewhere over South Carolina. If you've ever been lost
over South Carolina in the air, you'll know that everything looks pretty
much the same. We certainly didn't know where Spartanburg was. I passed
the word to the Admiral that we were lost and asked him to fly low over the
first town that we saw in order to be able to get out bearings. Most towns
and cities in that day had their names painted on top of some prominent
structure with an arrow pointing in the direction of the nearest airfield
if there was one nearby. If the town wasuonua railroad, another means of
-34
identification was to fly low enough to see the name on the railroad station.
We came to a town that had a sign saying "Camden, S. C." We were well south
of Spartanburg, and I plotted a course that would take us there. When we
reached the field,our tank was almost dry, as we were then thirty or forty
minutes overdue.
Meanwhile, our progress was being monitored back at the naval air station
at Pensacola based on departure time and distance traveled. When we landed,
Commander Jerry Bogan, who was the executive officer of the air station, was
waiting toumeetuus. He took me aside and asked me what the hell had happened.
I told him that I doped off and we got lost. He really chewed me out, which
I so richly deserved. However,our relationship was always good and we became
lifelong friends. He was later a commander of a fast carrier group consisting
of four carriers and their supporting vessels under Halsey in the 3rd Fleet.
He retired as a vice admiral. He was an outstanding naval officer and a
real fighter.
From Aide to the Commandant at the naval air station in Pensacola, I
went to sea with Rear Admiral Halsey as his Aide and Flag Lieutenant when he
assumed command of Carrier Division Two, which consisted of the YORKTOWN as
flagship and the ENTERPRISE, in June, 1938. During that year we had a visitor
who spent a couple of weeks with us on maneuvers. He was Lord Louis Mountbatten
who had previously visited Adm. Halsey in Pensacola to learn about
training methods. He now commanded the HMS VICTORIUS, which was a carrier
and had put into New York harbor.
[When did you leave Pensacola?]
I left Pensacola in June, 1938. Lord Mountbatten was probably the best
representative that the British Empire had. He seemed to have it all put
together. He was a friend of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and when he left us,
-35
he went for a visit with him in Hollywood. One thing he didn't do,however,
was to pay his mess bill when he left. I was the mess treasurer. As you
know, all officers have to pay their mess bill; enlisted men get their meals
free.
I was with Halsey from June, 1937, when he was a captain and commandant
at Pensacola,until August, 1943, a total of six years. In 1939 Halsey was
transferred to Carrier Division One, consisting of the SARATOGA and the
LEXINGTON, plus their respective air groups. In June, 1940u, Halsey became
corrnnander of Carriers Pacific. The title had previously been Commander
Aircraft Battle Force. Both billets were filled by a vice admiral. His
flagship was shifted to the YORKTOWN until that ship was transferred to the
East Coast along with other vessels to beef up the Support Force based at
Argentia, Newfoundland. He then shifted his flagship to the ENTERPRISE.
Prior to the outbreak of war, the concept of naval warfare was changed.
The peacetime organizations of command evolved around different types of
ships--the battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and so forth. The battleships
had always been the principal striking weapon, and all other types were
used in a supporting role, including the carriers. The new concept of warfare
employed the attack carrier as the primary strike weapon, and all other
types of vessels were put in the supporting role to the carrier.
The first task force formed around this revised concept was Task Force 8
under the command of Vice Admiral Halsey in the YORKTOWN and was rroved to
Hawaii from the West Coast in the spring of 1941 due to the increasing
tension with the Japanese. Task Force 8 consisted of the ENTERPRISE, the
YORKTOWN, one division of destroyers under Captain Richard Conolly--later
Admiral--one division of heavy cruisers under Rear Admiral Ray Spruance,
-36
later Admiral1
in command of the Fifth Fleet, and three battleships, plus
the necessary tankers.
After one exercise with the battleships, Halsey decided that their slow
speed of fourteen knots was a hindrance to his force rather than a help since
his force was capable of making thirty-two knots without the battleships.
He told Admiral Kimmel that he did not want to operate with the battleships
again for that reason. He always put his reliance for safety on speed and
surprise rather than the heavy fire-power of the battleships.
There were some dozen tactical publications on the flag bridge then but
they were not being used. They had now become virtually obsolete, and we
had to clean the shelves of all of these tactical publications and start
out anew. We improvised our formations, our tactics, our instructions and
changed them to meet particular conditions and certain operating problems.
It all had to be done by visual signals--once the war started.
Prior to this time Admiral Joe Richardson was Corrmander in Chief of
the Pacific Fleet. I had attended the change of command ceremony with Admiral
Halsey when Admiral Richardson assumed command. The Pacific Fleet was now
based at Pearl Harbor almost in its entirety. As it became more and more
evident that we would soon be at war with Japan, Admiral Richardson became
skeptical of the safety of his ships at Pearl Harbor,principally because of
the shortage of long-range search planes and the absence of adequate radar to
provide long-range detection of an attacking force. Halsey told me that
Admiral Richardson advised President Roosevelt of his concern and recommended
that the fleet be moved back to the West Coast because of its vulnerability
to attack. Roosevelt told Richardson that for political reasons the
fleet had to be kept at Pearl Harbor. Richardson's response was that he
could no longer accept responsibility for the safety of the fleet and asked
-37
to be relieved of his command. Admiral Richardson was relieved promptly
after President Roosevelt came to Culebra Island in the Carribean where the
Atlantic and Pacific Fleets were holding joint maneuvers. He was aboard the
heavy cruiser AUGUSTA and signaled all flag officers to report aboard at
4 p.m. There were about forty flag officers present on that occasion, and I
went with Admiral Halsey as his flag lieutenant. All the flag officers knew
that the purpose of the meeting was to select a new Commander in Chief Pacific
to replace Admiral Joe Richardson. He selected Admiral Kimmel, a relatively
junior rear admiral.
Before the meeting broke up, he [President Roosevelt] said that he would
like to meet the flag lieutenants--he himself had been one. We had been
waiting on the fantail for their meeting which was being held on the forecastle,
to break up. We were discussing the politics of the situation in general.
The flag lieutenants were a small, closely knit group themselves, and
they knew much of a confidential nature that had been divulged to them by
their respective bosses. We went up in single file to the forecastle; the
President was sitting in a large wicker chair with an open collar. He was
very tan and fit looking although quite heavy around the waist. He gave each
of us a hearty handshake and turned on his charming smile.
Then off to Pearl we went. Kimmel had been an usher at Halsey's wedding
and they were close friends. During the months preceding the Pearl Harbor
attack, our task force was renamed Task Force 16, but it consisted of the
same vessels and commanders except that the YORKTOWN, which had been ordered
to the East Coast, was replaced as Halsey's flagship by the ENTERPRISE. The
movement was carried out in secrecy. I had a personal stake because I had a
very fine record player that was being repaired for. me in the radio shop
aboard the YORKTOWN. We went aboard the day before to pack our belongings,
-38
but I was hesitant to take the record player which had not yet been repaired
because, in my opinion, that would have tipped off the fact that the YORKTOWN
was going and wouldn't be coming back. I never saw it again. When the
YORKTOWN left the Pacific,that left us with only three carriers; the Japanese
had ten.
The battle of the Atlantic was going full force with supply ships to
England and Russia being escorted by U.uS. naval vessels, although the United
States had not yet declared war on Germany. Rear Admiral Mark Bristol was in
command of the Support Force operating out of Newfoundland waters. Several
destroyers of that force were lost before we formally declared war after the
Pearl Harbor attack. Captain Robert Carney, who later became Chief of Staff
to Halsey in the South Pacific and finally Chief of Naval Operations, was
operations officer of the force. My brother, now Rear Admiral George W.
Ashford, U.uS. Navy (Ret), was Rear Admiral Bristol's Aide and Flag Secretary.
The YORKTOWN was sent along with three battleships, four cruisers, and two
squadrons of destroyers to beef up that force. The merchant vessels being
escorted were sustaining very heavy losses from the German submarines
which had implemented the wolfpack tacticsu_ of sending some fifteen
or twenty submarines to follow the convoy and select the opportunities for
attack in unison.
Our operating schedule out of Pearl Harbor prior to the Japanese attack
was heavy. All battleships were berthed inside the harbor, but the carriers
were usually anchored outside in the roadstead along with two or three
destroyers. On several occasions, usually on weekends, we had reports which
caused some concern when sonar operators reported underwater objects moving
in vicinity of the carriers. Although the reports could have been caused
by schools of fish and made in error by inexperienced sonar operators, it
-39
was decided to berth the carriers inside the harbor when in port. That was
the practice prior to the Jap attack.
It was on 27 November, 1941, that I accompanied Vice Admiral Halsey to
call on Admiral Kimmel, the Commander in Chief Pacific, with headquarters at
Pearl Harbor. Halsey was told that he was to take his task force to Wake
Island on a secret mission and fly off a squadron of Marine fighter planes
under the command of Major Paul Putnam as reinforcements to the island.
The island commander was a naval aviator, Corrmander Scott Cunningham,whom we
called "Spif." Major James Devereux was in command of the ground forces;
he was a Marine officer.
Admiral Kimmel knew from intelligence at that meeting that the Japanese
fleet was at sea, but he did not know its location. It was thought to be
headed south into the South China Sea. I also believe that he then had the
message from Admiral Stark--Chief of Naval Operations--saying, "War with
Japan is imminent.u" Kimmel suggested that Halsey take three battleships,
but Halsey rejected the idea because he placed principal reliance for safety
on speed and air power. The crew did not know where we were going until about
two days out. On the night of 27 November, a Saturday as I recall, Vice
Admiral and Mrs. Halsey gave an impromptu dinner party at the Halekulani
Hotel in Honolulu where they were living at the time. I was present and
noted that Mrs. Halsey was highly agitated. I surmised that when Admiral
Halsey told her that he was taking his task force to sea on the following day
that she felt he was being fed to the wolves, so to speak. Everyone felt that
war was imminent, but the idea that the Japs vlOUld have the audacity to attack
Pearl Harbor was too much for most people to accept. Afterwards, I surmised
that the dinner party Halsey gave that night before we left for Wake was in the
nature of a diversionary tactic because a departure on Sunday was rrost unusual.
-40
Rear Admiral Pat Bellinger, Naval Aviator No. 8, was Air Officer to the
Commandant of the 16th Naval District,uAdmiral Bloch,uwho had previously
been Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet. Admiral Bellinger was ordering
rrorning and afternoon daily flights to seven hundred miles distance with his
available long-range search planes, the Navy PBY seaplanes. The number of
planes available to him allowed the search to cover only a sector of about
eighteen degrees which he varied from day to day. It was apparent, therefore,
that the chance of detecting an incoming fast Carrier Task Force was
rather small. A 180 degree sector would have been necessary to provide
reasonable security, in my opinion. The number of long-range search planes-land
or sea--necessary to do the job did not exist at that time.
It should be noted here that no single person was responsible for the
safety of Pearl Harbor. General Short had the responsibility of the protection
of the island; Admiral Kimmel had the responsibility for the protection of
the fleet; Admiral Bloch, as Commandant of the 16th Naval District, had
responsibility for the protection of the naval base. His operation order
for the defense of the base made the number one assumption that "there would
be no unprovoked surprise attack, in force, on Pearl Harbor." . From the facts
now known it is evident that the same view was held by the other responsible
commander, but not Rear Admiral Pat Bellinger.
[You made the statement a few minutes ago that you considered the movement
of the task force to Wake Islantj as a diversionary measure. Would you
elaborate on that?]
I meant that the dinner party held the night before by Admiral and Mrs.
Halsey was a diversionary measure to hide the fact that the task force would
be leaving the next day for Wake Island on a Sunday. The Army had recently
-41
installed a long-range radar on a-mountain top on Oahu, but it was being
manned for training purposes only, from 0400 to 0700 in the morning.
Halsey knew the location of all Navy ships and submarines and marine
shipping. He knew that none of our forces could be expected to be sighted
on the course taken to Wake Island. After putting to sea on 28 November,
he issued an order entitled "Battle Order Number l.u" I kept a copy of that
order, knowing that it would be of historical interest someday, but unfortunately,
when my home in Alexandria, Virginia was gutted by fire in 1953, it
was destroyed along with many of my other records. It seemed strange that
of all accounts that I have ever seen about the attack on Pearl Harbor and
the writings about Admiral Halsey, to most of them I have made a contribution,
I do not recall that order ever having been reproduced. He prefaced that
order by telling his force that war with Japan was imminent and called on
every man to do his duty. He further directed all planes to be fully armed
as appropriate with ammo and bombs and that two searches would be made daily
while Em.route to and from Wake Island to a distance of ,225 miles, the first
search to be made at dawn and the second search in the iate p.m. The sector
to be searched was to be 22 1/2 degrees to the right and left of our course.
The pilots were ordered to strafe, bomb, and sink anything sighted without
further orders since radio silence was being preserved. Whether they sighted
aircraft, surface vessels or submarines, the order was to apply, and it was
signed by Halsey. When I read the order I said, "Admiral, if you issue this
order, you might start a war." His reply was, "That's my order and it stands."
Knowing that the Japanese fleet was at sea, he was determined to prevent at
any cost his force being reported and possibly destroyed by a superior force.
Also he may have known from Admiral Kimmel that Admiral Stark had advised
Kimmel about that time that, "War is imminent."
-42
We now know that the Japanese force that attacked Pearl Harbor sortied
from Japan two days before we sortied from Pearl Harbor on 28 November, and
they also had orders to seek and destroy any American, British, or Dutch
merchantman sighted. We proceeded to Wake Island, flew off the Marine fighter
squadron, and started to return to Pearl at best speed. During the return
trip, we encountered high winds and heavier seas than anticipated. This
forced us to reduce speed in order to prevent damage to the destroyers. The
carriers and crui??ers were able to maintain a much higher speed than the
destroyers in heavy seas without sustaining structural damage. The scheduled
arrival time for the ENTERPRISE at berth 11 in Pearl Harbor was 0800 on 7
December, 1941. At that time the task force was still 135 miles west of
Pearl Harbor. However, we had launched our usual morning scouting flight
with orders to the pilots to land at Pearl Harbor upon completion of their
missions. Our scouting planes arrived at Pearl Harbor simultaneously with
the Japanese attack, and several were shot down. Most landed safely on Ford
Island during the action. The U.uS. S. UTAH, an old battleship which had
been stripped of its mast, top-hamper and guns,uhad been converted into a
hull, was being used as a target ship and was still in berth 11 when the
Japanese hit. It resembled a "Flat Top" from the air. They must have known
where the ENTERPRISE was supposed to be because the UTAH got special attention
that morning; it received eleven torpedo hits and capsized very promptly.
The Army command under General Short was in the process of building a
system of long-range radar on top of the rrountains on Oahu Island. At least
one had been completed shortly before the attack and was manned by two Army
enlisted men. A very large group of planes was detected by the radar operator
approaching the island of Oahu on the morning of 7 December from the
northwest. This fact was reported by telephone to the Army duty officer, a
-43
lieutenant, who assumed that the planes were twelve B-17 Army bombers which
were expected in from the states. The action the Arrey lieutenant took was to
tell the operators to secure. However, they were curious and stayed on the
job, but no further action was taken on the contact. It was the irony of
fate that the planes finally dispatched to Pearl should have caused the Jap
attacking force to arrive at Pearl Harbor unreported as such even though
their numbers were excessive and they came in from the northwest rather than
from the east. It is true that the operators had little experience.
Radar had just become available, and the ENTERPRISE had the first longrange
radar installed on board a naval vessel; it was called the CXAM, and it
was the only one in our task force. We were able to detect planes at great
distances, sometimes up to almost a hundred miles.
On that Sunday morning 7 December, 1941, I had the staff duty watch on
the flag bridge of the ENTERPRISE. The Admiral and staff were having breakfast
in his mess. At a few minutes after 0800 a radioman handed me a dispatch.
It was from the Secretary of the Navy to all commands and was an
urgent dispatch. It read, "This is no drill. The Japanese have attacked
Pearl Harbor. Repeat. This is no drill. Execute Rainbow 5." I ran up a
flag hoist directing all ships in the task force to sound general quarters
and telephoned the Admiral's cabin. The Chief of Staff, Captain Miles
Browning, answered. A few moments later they were all on the bridge.
Rainbow 5 was the plan of battle for war with Japan. It called for an
amphibious operation across the central Pacific. That dispatch executed the
plan, but it was more than two years later before the first operation of the
plan got underway. Such was the price of being unprepared for the war we
knew was coming. The misconception generally held that the Japs would never
dare to attack Pearl Harbor, and the failure of the high cormnand in Washington
-44
to comprehend and act on the intelligence reports on that morning proved to
be disastrous. What a difference a simple telephone call might have made, a
call that a naval intelligence officer had urged Admiral Stark, then Chief of
Naval Operations, to make to Admiral Kimmel. Instead he acted on protocol
and turned the matter over to General Marshall. General Marshall sent
a signal, but due to a foul-up in the communications office,uthe message went
by Western Union telegram to General Short and was delivered by a messanger
on a bicycle after the attack.
That is a statement made by Admiral Morison in his history, The Two Ocean
War. Throughout the day numerous dispatches came in from Pearl giving conflicting
reports on enemy movements. We even received reports that Japanese
paratroops had landed at Barber's Point on the island of Oahu. The description
of the uniforms being worn was also given. All of ENTERPRISE's remaining
planes were being held aboard pending some authentic report of the enemy's
whereabouts which we expected to come from the search planes being sent out
from Pearl. We continued on our course to Pear?? expecting information to
come in at any time giving a contact report.
After a day of incredible confusion, we finally received a contact report
from a long-range patrol plane out of Pearl--a PBY seaplane--that the Jap
fleet had been sighted about 150 miles south of Pearl. The composition of
the force was given as several carriers, battleships, cruisers, and destroyers
together with their course and speed. The report further stated that the
pilot, an ensign, was being attacked by Zero fighter planes, and he had taken
up a course for return to Pearl Harbor. This looked like the real thing, and
just what we had been waiting for, particularly because Kimmel had sent out
a dispatch saying that he believed that the attacking force had set a course
for Jaluit in the Marshall Islands which would be to the south, and he
-45
expected they would be located in that direction. Halsey launched all
remaining planes about 4:00 p.m., and the pilots had orders to land at Pearl
Harbor after the attack since the ship would be in a darkened condition, and
it would be about 9:00 p.m. before they would return. Halsey sent Kimmel a
dispatch of the action he had taken and advised him that the ENTERPRISE
planes would be landing at Ford Island after dark with lights on and to alert
all hands concerned. The ENTERPRISE attack force arrived at the expected
point of contact but naturally were unable to locate anything because the
contact report made by the ensign was a pure figment of the imagination;
there was nothing there. After a limited search, they began their flight to
Pearl. It all goes to show what tricks the mind can play when one is in a
panic situation. There were other incidents of a similar nature.
As the planes circled Ford Island for a landing, machine gun batteries
at nearby Hickam Field opened up on them, and as I recall five of them were
shot down. The flight leader then headed west to search for the ENTERPRISE.
We had no voice communication at that time,ualthough ten-channel voice sets
were being used by commercial airlines, and Halsey had been trying to get
them for his planes. I will discuss this matter more in detail later. About
8:00 p.m. the ENTERPRISE attack force appeared overhead, low on gas. The
task force had of course been cruising in a darkened ship condition. Halsey
ordered the ENTERPRISE to turn on its landing lights, and the planes taken
aboard. All torpedo planes still had the torpedos and the bomber planes
still had their bombs. No pilot in the squadron had ever landed aboard with
a torpedo before, and only a few pilots had ever checked out in
night landing. It was a harrowing experience, but believe it or not, all
planes were landed safely. Although one torpedo skidded up the deck after
the plane had caught the resting gear, it did not explode or cause any
-46
damage. That operation was clear evidence of the heights to which trained
and disciplined personnel can rise in extremes.
[If you had no voice communication, how did they locate the ENTERPRISE
in the first place?]
They knew the ship's course and speed which had been given them before
take-off. I don't know whether it was rroonlight or not. We were close to
Pearl Harbor, and they knew we were heading in. Undoubtedly, we had also
broken radio silence, and given them our latest position when we learned of
the "Shoot-Out" when they were circling for a landing. I'm sure Halsey would
have done it. So many things happened that day that I don't recall details
of the radio communication procedure. All I know is that they appeared overhead
unexpectedly to me and I believe to the others on the bridge too.
[Did you have any misgivings about heading into Pearl without knowing
where the Japanese fleet was?]
We had to; the ships were low on fuel so we went on in. We got in
late the next afternoon.
During the afternoon of the 7th, we sighted a group of ships heading
west. They were coming toward us. After our challenge, the group proved to
be a cruiser and several destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral Milo
Draemel who was then Commander Destroyers, Pacific Fleet. That force was
about everything that had not been damaged during the attack. Admiral Draemel
sent Halsey the following message in the clear; "Leary's command is immobilized."
Vice Admiral Fairfax Leary was Commander Battleships, Pacific Fleet.
It was the first accurate information we had received of the damage sustained
by the attack at Pearl. Admiral Draemel was directed to join our force, and
his ships were assigned to stations. During that same afternoon rather late,
-47
srroke was spotted dead ahead. Shortly, a lone destroyer was sighted headed
directly for our force. When challenged it proved to be a U.uS. destroyer
with an ensign in command. I'm not sure, but I believe that ensign was in
the Supply Corps. Halsey signaled, "What are your orders?" The reply came
back, "Steam west." He was directed to take station off our starboard quarter,
and no chick ever snuggled under its mother's wing with greater relief
or feeling of security.
As flag lieutenant,I was responsible for all visual communications,
and at sea radio silence was always observed. Therefore, in making flag
hoists and signals to maneuver the force, I noted that the time required
for a signal to be read and understood was about three times longer than
under normal conditions after the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor had
come in. There seemed to be a mild daze that pervaded the entire force.
People did not seem to be quite able to comprehend just what was happening,
and their minds were functioning very slowly.
After recovering our attack group from their aborted mission, we turned
again toward Pearl. We were low on fuel and fueled all night after getting
in, taking on what other supplies were available. The scene was one of
devastation. We departed Pearl Harbor the next morning at dawn to look for
the Japanese attach force. Halsey had with him all available forces that
were operable. We steamed north and west for several days at high speed to
reduce the submarine threat and then returned to Pearl to prepare for our
next mission. During that operation, one of our destroyers, the DRAYTON,
sank a Jap sub.
The entrance to and from Pearl Harbor was almost blocked by the battleship
NEVADA, which was trying to get to sea when the Japs concentrated on
her. A lieutenant commander was in command. Admiral Kimmel, fearing that
-48
she would be sunk in the channel and block it, ordered her not to sortie. By
that time she was almost at the entrance to the channel, and the officer in command
beached her. Her presence near the channel barely left room for the carriers
to get in and out of Pearlfor several weeks until she was floated clear.
Despite all of the destruction at Pearlu, there were two factors in our
favor. None of our three carriers was .present at Pearl, and the fuel tank at
the naval base was intact. Admiral Bloch had wisely constructed a cofferdam
around it to contain the fuel oil and prevent it from flowing over the base
in case it was destroyed. The SARATOGA was enroute to Midway with dive bombers
to beef up the forces there, and the LEXINGTON was enroute to the West Coast
for some repairs.
In retrospect it may be that the attack, despite the heavy losses in life
and in ships, proved to be a blessing in disguise in the long run. It welded
public opinion in a common determination to fight for victory. As Admiral
Yamamato stated when he heard that no carriers were at Pearl Harbor and that he
had not succeeded in making a knock-out blow, "I fear that we have awakened a
sleeping giant and given him a terrible resolve." He had been a naval attache
to Washington and knew of the great industrial power of the U.uS. and believed
that Japan's only chance of victory was an early "Knock-out Blow" of the U.uS.
fleet. That determination was not present in either the Korean or Vietnamese
war and we lost both of them. It must be said now that indifference to Soviet
military buildup and worldwide conquests pervades our country. If not reversed,
and soon, I fear that we will be blackmailed into living under Comrrunist control.
As General MacArthur so eloquently pointed out, "There is no substitute for victory.
u" Without the "will to win" we lose our ability to survive.
On 11 December the Japanese invasion force attacked Wake Island but was
beaten off. However, a larger invasion force came back on 23 December and
renewed the attack. Admiral Kimmel had dispatched a strong naval relief
force around the SARATOGA under the command of Rear Admiral Frank Jack
Fletcher to support Wake. I later talked with the Air Officer of the
SARATOGA who is now a four-star admiral retired, Admiral Charles R. Brown.
He stated that the SARATOGA had planes warmed up, and the pilots were in
their cockpits ready for launch against the Wake invasion force when word
was received to cancel the operation and return to Pearl. Admiral Brown,
when he received the word, told me that he broke down and cried. The order
had come from Vice Admiral Pye who had just relieved Admiral Kimmel as
Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet on a temporary basis until Admiral Nimitz
was to report on 31 December, 1941. On the same day Admiral King became
OJMINCH in Washington, D. C. At the time of the second invasion attempt of
Wake, the ENTERPRISE was at sea, and we received the following message, the
last received from Wake. It read, "The enemy has landed. The issue is in
doubt." It came from the island commander, Commander Spif Cunningham, a
naval aviator.
During the several months following the Pearl Harbor attack, Halsey's
Task Force 16 was at sea, almost constantly engaged in hit and run strikes
against Jap-held island bases. That was the only strategy we could employ
with the forces available to us--hit and run. Halsey always conducted searches
in the morning and the afternoon while at sea, just as he had done when we
left Pearl for Wake Island on 28 November. Our search pilots in scout bombing
planes became war weary to a greater degree than most of us. They had difficulty
sleeping due to the strain of the constant searches over water by singleengine
planes flying separate missions alone. When Halsey learned that the
doctors were administering sleeping pills to the pilots, he directed the
-50
senior medical officer to obtain a large supply of bourbon whiskey and give
that to the pilots rather than sleeping pills. It served its purpose well.
After escorting reinforcements in troop transports to Samoa, our next
operation was directed against the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. The Marshalls
had been held by the Japs under mandate from World War I, and they
had taken the Gilberts from the British only recently. Since all foreigners
had been excluded from the Marshall Islands for many years, our intelligence
was meager, to say the least. We did lmow where their airfields were located
in the Gilberts but had little lmowledge of the Marshalls except from submarine
reconnaissance. A sub base was known to exist, which was in violation
of their treaty rights and would readily enable the Japs to attack our supply
lines to Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, and Australia. It was
important that it be eliminated along with everything else which we could
destroy. On our return from Samoa, our task force made a joint attack with
the task force under Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher in the YORKTOWN. These
two task forces represented about all combat vessels that were still operable
in the Pacific. The SARATOGA had recently taken a torpedo and was returned
to the West Coast for repair.
The raid on the Gilbert and Marshall Islands gave the U.uS. its first
victory of the war and served to boost the morale of the American people and
particularly our armed forces to an extent that was out of all proportion to
the damage inflicted. The mission given Halsey was to knock out their ships,
aircraft, and bases that threatened our lifeline to Australia. It was a
complete success, and the Japs were never able to restore the damage and
renew the submarine threat from those islands for the rest of the war.
They were kept too busy trying to supply other existing bases against the
toll being taken by our submarines. During the latter part of the war they
-51
were even forced to employ their submarines to help supply their rrost impor
tant distant island bases with vital parts, medicines and supplies.
The tactics employed in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands' attacks were
developed, for the most part, by Captain Miles Browning, Admiral Halsey's
Chief of Staf.f and an Early Bird aviator. He was a brilliant air tactician,
and the Gilberts, Marshalls, and Midway represented his finest hour. He
was a master when it came to the employment of air groups, but handling of
men was a different matter. He was very controversial, and history has not
dealt kindly with him. Rear Admiral Eliot Morison, U.uS. Naval Reserve and
professor of history at Harvard, in his history,uThe Two Ocean War,udescribes
him as "one of the most irasible and unstable officers ever to earn his fourth
stripe, but a man with a slide rule brain."
[What did you think of him personally?]
I will refer to him further from time-to-time.
Despite the meager intelligence on the Gilberts and Marshall, Browning
figured that in the Gilberts, the eastern-most islands, he would find rrostly
airfields with fighter and reconnaissance planes and that the major targets
would be found in the western chain in the Marshalls where the better harbors
were located and where we knew the Japs had excluded all foreigners and a
buildup had been going on for some twenty years. His strategy, therefore,
was to move in as close as possible to the airfields on the Gilberts and
down their fighter aircraft with our fighter planes and surface bombardment
and launch bombers and torpedo planes against the more distant Marshall Islands
where we knew the buildup would be since the British had controlled the
Gilberts until recently. His estimate proved to be correct.
The ENTERPRISE made its first launch at dawn within sight of the largest
airfield in the group. With two destroyers, the "Big E" remained in sight
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of that field for fourteen hours, and we turned into the wind either to
launch or land aircraft twenty-one times during that one period. While Wotje
Airfield was being pinned down, heavy strikes were being made against the
more distant targets in the Marshalls' group.
In the early afternoon, the Jap twin-engine bombers sent in from the
Caroline Islands (where Truk is located) as reinforcements began to attack
our ships in fairly heavy concentrations. Six twin-engine "Betties" made an
attack on the ENTERPRISE, and one damaged plane made a suicide landing on the
ENTERPRISE deck only to bounce off the side of the ship after the pilot was
killed in the groove of the landing pattern when the ship made a violent
turn at very high speed. The Jap plane disrupted the fuel line and set off
a fire, and one man was killed. Halsey held a conference with the pilots
returning from their attack, and it was decided to pull out.
[Were the battleships much help in a situation like this?]
There were no battleships in the two task forces. Their guns would
have been of help as far as anti-aircraft fire was concerned. After that
conference we knew we had to get out fast. Then and there the phrase that
was to become famous among our task force was coined, "Hauling Ass With Halsey."
I figured the "Big E" could make thirty-three knots but doubted the destroyers
could. However, I ran up the signal, "speed thirty-three.u" Previously
we had been joined by the remainder of the task force of cruisers
and destroyers, which had been bombarding targets of opportunity. None of
the destroyers were observed to drop behind, although no one believed they
could make thirty-three knots, shades of "thirty-one knot Burke." He was
named "thirty-one knot Burke" because he made thirty-one knots with his
destroyers during night battles. The battleships could have been of great
help with their anti-aircraft batteries, but getting there and back at
fourteen knots was not Halsey's dish. As a matter of fact,the ENTERPRISE
-53
was equipped with fifty caliber machine guns--forty or fifty of them--and
---�
l\ ll
you could see the bullets from those machine guns bouncing off those Betties
like popcorn. They were completely inadequate for defense purposes. After
that operation we installed twenty and forty caliber milimeter Swedishdesigned
guns.
We set our course for Pearl, knowing that Admiral Yarnannto at Truk
would have more of his heavy bombers from the Carolines in full pursuit
soon. The weather was clear. Shortly thereafter, I noted what appeared to
be a line squall to the northwest. I pointed it out to Admiral Halsey and
suggested to him that we get in behind that squall for concealment and ride
it out if we could instead of holding to the track toward Pearl Harbor which
we were on and which the Japs would figure us to take. He did just that, and
it proved to be an escape from further attack. It was a heavy line squall
with a low ceiling. We got in behind it; we slowed speed to the squall's
rate of advance to the east, and we secured from general quarters. During
the rest of the day and following night, our radar continued to detect planes
overhead in the vicinity, and we were able to hear them on several occasions.
But we slept well that night, well concealed by heavy clouds from the probing
eyes aboard the heavy bombers above.
Our entry to Pearl Harbor on 7 February was a dramatic and emotional
experience. I ordered the signal force to break out the largest set of colors
in the locker and to fly them at the fore. The dock where the ENTERPRISE was
to berth was crowded with people. Admiral Nimitz and his staff were much
in evidence, and it seemed that the island was covered with people coming
down to welcome us. Strong men gave vent to their emotions with unabashed
tears. I went below to my room for a spell; the emotional release was that
great. From that day forward for many months, it seemed that the Navy and
-54
the nation looked to Halsey for its salvation, and during those months our
task force was at sea almost constantly. As for Fask Force 16, anything
Halsey asked for, he got from that point on.
On 11 February Nimitz ordered Halsey to attack Wake and Eniwetok
Islands. The YORKTOWN, with supporting ships under Rear Admiral Fletcher,
was to accompany Halsey's task force and come under his overall command,
with Fletcher's group to attack Eniwetok. After putting to sea on 14
February, the day before Singapore fell, Halsey was ordered to detach Fletcher's
group and have it proceed south as a separate task force on a convoy
mission. The attack on Eniwetok was scrubbed.
In his attack on Wake, Halsey detached the cruisers and two destroyers
under Spruance to move against Wake on the opposite side and commence bombardment
after the first bombs were dropped from the ENTERPRISE's planes.
On 24 February the ENTERPRISE began its launch about one hundred miles north
of Wake before daylight in foul weather. One scout plane cartwheeled and
crashed into the water over the port side. I immediately climbed up the
ladder on the stack, ran around the catwalk to the searchlight platform and
turned on the twenty-four inch searchlight to comb the water for the crashed
plane. There was a forty-five knot relative wind over the deck, but I could
hear verbal orders being shouted from the Admiral's bridge, which I pretended
not to hear, to turn off the lights. I kept the lights on and quickly located
the plane which soon sank, but the pilot popped up shortly thereafter. I
kept the light on until the rescue destroyer about one hundred yards astern
locked on with its searchlight and rescued the pilot; the gunner went down
with the plane. The pilot, Lieutenant junior grade Perry Teaff, was saved.
Teaff lost an eye in the crash. I never told him how he came to be saved,
and I was never admonished for not hearing the order to tum off the
-55
searchlight. But one historian stated that, "despite the proximity of the
enemy, orders were given to the destroyer to turn on the searchlights to
better the chances of rescuing the flyers." That was poetic license at
best; no such orders were ever given. They were not needed because the
ENTERPRISE had set the example.
The first planes launched were having difficulty effecting a rendezvous
because of low hanging clouds so further launching was delayed until dawn.
Meanwhile,uthe Admiral decided he would hold up the attack while an attempt
was made to intercept the Japanese weather broadcast which we believed would
be forthcoming from Wake at 8 a.m. We had a Japanese-language student
aboard from naval intelligence just for that purpose. Sure enough,uthe weather
report came in on schedule; it was decoded and showed the weather at Wake to
be improved and suitable for an attack. This was the first time we had used
Jap weather reports to our advantage but not the last. By the time the
attack planes had reached their targets, Admiral Spruance's group was already
doing its thing. When the planes did not arrive at dawn as planned, he
launched his own spotting planes and began bombardment. He had been sighted
and couldn't wait any longer.
A couple of days after we began our return to Pearl Harbor, we
received from CincPac a recommendation to reverse course and attack Marcus
Island, which was about one thousand miles from the Japanese homeland and
was known to have an airfield and was used as a weather station. Miles
Browning was against making the attack on Marcus Island, but he was overruled
by Halsey. As a matter of fact,uMarcus had originally been given as an alternate
to the attack on Wake with the option left to Halsey. I had an opportunity
to discuss the projected operation with Halsey alone before the attack
was made, and I told him that I did not feel that he would have been justified
-56
if he followed Brovming's advice. This time Halsey left his destroyers to
trail behind with the tanker and took only the heavy cruisers with him as
plane guards. He felt that speed might be his saving grace, and he did not
want to be slowed by the destroyers as heavy seas probably would be encountered
on the return.
The attack was made on 4 March. No enemy planes were encountered in the
air on the strike, which destroyed the radio station, the hange?? some planes,
and damaged the airfield. We had one plane shot dovm by anti-aircraft, but
the pilot and gunner were seen to get clear and into their rubber boat unhurt.
One fighter plane became separated during the attack due to the heavy clouds
and was missing when the other planes had been recovered. We held the prearranged
course and speed for some time; I had been keeping my own check-off
of the returning planes on the flag bridge and knew that Jim Gray was the
missing pilot. Finally, about the time his gas was due to run out, I was
told to signal the task force and set a course to Pearl. Again I delayed a
little in carrying out the orders in the hope that the missing pilot would
show up soon. When I felt I could no longer delay, I made one more sweep
with my glasses, and sure enough,ua plane was spotted over the horizon. It
was Jim. He landed aboard with about five gallons of gas left. Years later
after the war, he was on duty in Naples and during one of my visits there
we rehashed the incident over drinks. He has been one of my life-long friends.
The Japs had begun their ruthless march toward Australia, and their
forces were gathering in the New Britain-New Guinea area. Rabaul was a
major base for their operation. A task force consisting of heavy cruisers
and destroyers of some sixteen ships was organized around the LEXINGTON,
and it was dispatched to support the ANZAC forces in the Coral Sea. It was
under the command of Vice Admiral Wilson Brown. He was not an aviator.
-57
An attack on Rabaul was scheduled for the early morning of 21 March. The
task force was some one hundred miles short of its projected launching
point when it was detected by a Jap reconnaissance plane and shortly thereafter
came under attack from a large number of heavy bombers.
During the air battle that followed, Butch O'Hare attacked a formation
of nine twin-engine bombers after he became separated from other members of
his flight. These bombers were closing in on the LEXINGTON. Butch, unassisted
by any other fighter planes, in a few minutes, alone, shot down five and
scored hits on three others, which were later destroyed by other fighter
aircraft. This feat earned him the Medal of Honor, bestowed on him by President
Roosevelt, and the largest airport in the world now bears his name-O'Hare
Airport in Chicago. Some twenty-one of probably twenty-eight bombers
that approached the force were destroyed.
Having been detected about one hundred miles short of his launching
point, Vice Admiral Wilson Brown decided to cancel the attack on Rabaul and
advised Admiral King that he was withdrawing to replenish. Admiral King came
back with the most blistering dispatch that I have ever read directed to a
task force commander. In it he stated that before he would have passed up
the opportunity of pressing home the attack on Rabaul he would have "fed the
crew on hardtack and beans." With all due respect to Admiral Brown, his next
operation was a brilliant one in that he made a raid on Salamua and Lae in
New Guinea by sending his air group across a range of rrountains some fifteen
thousand feet high. It seems strange that Professor Morison would state
in his history, The Two Ocean War(published in 1963) that Admiral Brown's
force had made an air raid on Rabaul and was itself attacked in return. I
worked closely with Rear Admiral Eliot Morison at the Naval War College when
he was writing his fifteen volumes of the Navy's participation in World
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War II. When I was researching for the "Battle Lessons of World War II,"
I know from experience that he was a stickler for facts because he would
sometimes spend hours discussing with me eertain situations involved in the
battleuof Midway before he would accept a point of fact. So itu's hard to
understand why he made that statement. I do know that he was one of Admiral
King's greatest admirers.
Enuroute to our rendezvous with the HORNET prior to Doolittle's raid on
Tokyo,uwe were accompanied for some time by a merchant ship being sent to
Bataan with relief supplies. It was somewhat of a forlorn gesture and an
attempt to give some measure of relief to a lost cause. As I recall, the
merchantman was manned by a volunteer Navy crew and was to fly the flag of
a neutral country in an effort to get by the Japs and into Manila
Bay. However, the ship's hold was loaded with explosives, and they were
wired to a button on the navigating bridge in order to permit the captain to
press a button and blow the bottom out of the ship, in case of necessity.
It was a noble gesture and it was a brave crew, but the mission was scrubbed
after the ship had left the protection of our task force. I believe it
happened because of the surrender of Bataan on 9 April. The ship returned
safely. I mentioned this because I have never noted the event in any history
which I have read,ualthough it may have been covered somewhere.
Around 1 April, soon after our return from the raid on Marcus Island,
Task Force 16 again put to sea and headed west. On this trip the major
part of our air group consisted of fighter aircraft; just why, we were to
learn shortly after clearing Pearl. A rendezvous was to be made with the
HORNET, our newest carrier, which carried sixteen B-25 twin-engine Army
bombers on its flight deck. Its mission was to bomb Tokyo. Rendezvous was
made with the HORNET north of Wake Island on 13 April. She had started from
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San Francisco with two cruisers. Halsey decided to leave all of his destroyers
and two tankers about one thousand miles behind our projected launching point
for the raid. He had four heavy cruisers: two for the HORNET and two for
the "Big E," acting as plane guards and providing protection.
[Were only the planes of the "Big E" providing air protection?]
Yesu, prior to launching the bombers. After that Hornet fighters were
brought up from the hangar deck.
Again he relied on the speed of his carriers and heavy cruisers in the
getaway. The plan was to proceed to a point about 450 miles from Tokyo
and launch the flight in the afternoon about 4 p.m. Colonel Doolittle was to
go first and drop flares and incendiary bombs to illuminate the selected
targets. On the afternoon of the day before the launch, Admiral Halsey handed
me a message to send. It read, "To Colonel Doolittle and his gallant band.
Good luck and God bless you. Halsey." All during the night as we closed on
the Japanese islands, our radar picked up small surface vessels. We made
numerous small changes of course in order to avoid them. When dawn came,
the ENTERPRISE launched planes, and they reported by message drop that many
small boats were in the area. As a matter of fact, the Japanese islands
were protected by hundreds of small fishing boats which were in fact equipped
with armor plating on top and high powered radio. At dawn there was no further
need to change course due to the number of vessels sighted. One such vessel
almost within the task force-itself was strafed by our fighter aircraft, and
you could see the bullets bounce off the top like hail. I then signaled on
Halsey's order to the NASHVILLE to sink the vessel, which was done using their
five-inch battery,ubut it was accomplished only after the expenditure of a
large amount of ammunition, and the NASHVILLE'S skipper sent Halsey a message
apologizing. The crew was picked up by the NASHVILLE, but as I recall, there
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was one Jap who refused to be saved. It soon became evident that the task
force had been reported, and Halsey decided that the original plan must either
be changed and launch commenced, or the plan scrubbed. Several messages were
passed between Halsey and Doolittle. The decision was made to launch although
we were some distance from our projected launching point. The decision was,
"Go. Now." There was a strong wind blowing, which was good, but the HORNET
was also taking green waves over the bow at every pitch. By expert timing
the B-25's were released so that when they arrived at the bow,the ship was
in an upward swing. All planes were launched safely and proceeded directly
on course without rendezvous. The rest is history. The force once again
headed for Pearl and rendezvoused with the destroyers and fueling group.
Jap long-range planes were picked up during the night on radar, but we were
never sighted.
After our rendezvous with the destroyers and the fueling group, a
fueling was scheduled for about 4 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon. I had the
watch on the flag bridge. At about 2 p.m. an object was sighted within the
screen of the task force which appeared to me and others on the signal
bridge to be a periscope. I signaled the location of the object to the task
force, and one of the cruisers opened fire without orders or further delay.
A few moments later Miles Browning appeared on the flag bridge; he had been
awakened by the cruiser's gunfire, and he was in a rage. He ordered cease
fire and proceeded to chew me out in terms that no one can imagine. It was
a severe indictment of my competence, judgment, and most everything else in
the book. Nevertheless, I gave my story to Halsey and strongly recommended
we delay fueling and continue on course until well after nightfall, then
change course ninety degrees for about an hour, and then fuel in darkness.
I was convinced that I had seen a periscope. Browning was bitterly opposed
-61
to my recommendation and began to repeat his tirade against me. The Admiral
took my advice, and Miles Browning went below to sulk. Fueling was completed
successfully under the revised plan.
The next day a sailor brought me a photograph of the object that had
been sighted. It supported my report of the periscope sighting. The sailor
had been standing on the flight deck with his camera at the time of the
sighting and gunfire. I showed the picture to Admiral Halsey and the members
of the staff. Shortly after I went below and was in my cabin, Browning came
in. He said that the Admiral had directed him to apologize to me for the
things he had said. He further said that he had never apologized to anyone
in his life and proceeded to talk for about twenty minutes giving reasons why
he should not apologize. Nevertheless, at that point I felt that he had said
enough and I said, "I accept your apology.u" That ended the conversation.
By the time we had reached Pearl Harbor,CINCPAC intelligence had uncovered
the plan of the Japs to invade the Solomons and�uNew Guinea, Tulagi,
and Port Moresby. The LEXINGTON and YORKTOWN with available cruisers and
destroyers under Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher were send south to oppose
them. As soon as our task force could replenish and fuel we were ordered
south to reinforce Fletcher's force. Time was of the essence, for the movement
had already begun, and the Japs had occupied Tulagi in the Solomons on
3 May unopposed. Our race to reach the Coral Sea and join up with Fletcher's
force fell short by one day. We were in the New Hebrides when the word
arrived that the battle was over and that our forces were retiring. As we
had been receiving progress reports on the battle, we knew that "Lady LEX"
had received two torpedo hits and two bomb hits, but that her engine room
was intact and she was steaming at twenty-five knots. We then thought that
she would be safe. Sometime later, however, internal fires got out of control,
-62
and she had to be abandoned and sunk by our own destroyers. It later developed
that the reason the fires could not be controlled was due to the fact that
the interior compartments had been painted for years with oil paint, layer
on layer. As a result of her loss all naval vessels were ordered to have all
of their interior compartments scraped to bare metal. Thereafter, when
paint was used it was of the non-burnable type.
At this juncture our task force was sighted by a Japanese reconnaissance
plane. It was plainly visible from the ENTERPRISE from time to time. It was
using cloud cover for concealment from our fighters who were overhead attempting
to intercept. We were unable to shoot it down because it would go into
heavy clouds when the fighters approached. The report that three American
carriers had been sighted in the South Pacific was not long in being reported
to Tokyo. Neither was the report long in being received and decoded at
CINCPAC's headquarters, for it seemed only a matter of hours that an urgent
message was received from CINCPAC for us to return to Pearl at best sustained
speed. The Japs had figured that we had been caught offside, and they advanced
the attack on Midway by one month, thinking it impossible for our carriers to
get there in time to oppose their operation. It so happens that the three
operable carriers remaining in the Pacific made it to Midway by one day,
although YORKTOWN suffered some unrepaired damage sustained in the Coral Sea
action. She had only forty-eight hours to make repairs that would normally
require about three months. It was only through intelligence that our ships
were at Midway and a lot of luck in addition that gave us the victory there.
Yamamoto's plan was superb, but it contained one weakness on which I will
comment later.
During our rush back from the New Hebrides, Halsey was bothered more and
more by a body rash, which by the time we reached Pearl had covered his entire
-63
body. He couldn't sleep and was miserable because of the severe itching. As
soon as ENTERPRISE docked, Halsey went to see Nimitz. I was the only staff
officer with him. He went into Nimitz's office, and the two were alone for
only a few minutes. I sat on a bench outside. Halsey and Nimitz came out
together and Halsey said to me, "Go back to ENTERPRISE and tell Ray Spruance
he is to take the task force out tomorrow, using my staff. Tell him to shift
his flag to the ENTERPRISE.u" Nimitz had taken one look at Halsey and had
told him to report to the hospital without delay. He had asked Halsey who
he wanted to take command of the task force. It was Ray Spruance without
hesitation. When I got back to the ENTERPRISE, I went to the Admiral's cabin
where his commanders were all sitting around the table. The senior officer
present was Rear Admiral Lee Noyes, a naval aviator and next in line to command
the task force. Realizing that the situation would be an embarrassment,
I asked Rear Admiral Spruance if he would come into the Admiral's bedroom with
me. I broke the news to him, and he took it from there. The next day I
received orders to take Admiral Halsey to the states for treatment and to pack
my bags immediately as ENTERPRISE would soon be leaving for Midway. I moved
ashore without delay.
We were sent to San Francisco aboard the light cruiser DETROIT. Halsey
stayed in bed throughout the trip. When the ship arrived at the Naval Air
Station at Alameda, a captain in the medical corps,uwho was the senior medical
officer on the staff of the commandant of the 12th Naval District in San Francisco,
came aboard with his assistant. He had already received a report from
the hospital at Pearl. He told Admiral Halsey that he had arranged for him
to be placed under the care of the doctor whom he considered to be the foremost
allergist in the United States, Dr. Warren W. Vaughn of Richmond, Virginia.
I then went over to the air station and arranged for a twin-engine Douglass
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transport to have seats rerroved and a bed installed. We took off the next
day for Richrrond, Virginia. One of our fuel stops was Nashville, Tennessee,
and since my sister and her husband lived there, I wired them to come to the
airport to meet me. While we were fueling, I took them aboard to meet Admiral
Halsey. Despite his uncomfortable situation, he was cordiality itself while
lying there in bed. When we landed at Byrd Field in Richrrond, Dr. Vaughn
and his assistant Dr. Randolph were there with an ambulance to meet us and
take us to the hospital. Dr. Vaughn had oxygen equipment in the ambulance
and in the room assigned to the Admiral in the hospital. He jokingly said
to me, "I brought the oxygen equipment along because I received a dispatch
from the medical officer in San Francisco saying 'Your patient is arriving
at a certain time.' I figured he must be in critical condition to call him
my patient at that juncture."
Halsey was stripped naked and bathed with some special preparation.
The rash on his body was so severe that he couldn't bear to wear pajamas. The
doctors told him that they would begin to make allergy tests to try to determine
the cause. The Admiral said, "Make your first test a test for Scotch
whiskey." He liked Scotch whiskey. He never lost his sense of_humor. After
a couple of days in Richmond, the Admiral suggested that I go to Virginia
Beach, get accommodations there, and be available to make shuttle flights
between Richmond and Washington in order to deliver any messages he might
have for Admiral King.
My first mission was to tell Admiral King that Halsey recommended that
all communicators now on duty in Washington be transferred as far away as
possible. The reason for that facetious statement was due to the fact that
Halsey had been unable to get adequate voice communication equipment for his
pilots while the airline pilots had been using commercial equipment for a
-65
long time, giving them ten-channel capability. The Navy had not designed
nor equipped Navy planes with it up to that time. They seemed to have been
too rmJ.Ch obsessed with security. Halsey had directed his supply officer to
go out and buy up as much of the available commercial equipment that he could
get his hands on and at least get it into the planes of the group and squadron
commanders. Radio silence is a must for ships and planes as long as your
location is unknown and you are undetected, but once contact with the enemy
is made, direct and instantaneous communication between pilots and ships
becomes vital.
Another serious defect in our equipment was uncovered during the Marshall
Island raid when torpedo depth settings were found to be inaccurate. Torpedoes
went beneath ships that should have been sunk because they were running
about ten feet below their depth setting. Torpedo problems continued to
plague us throughout the war due to defective torpedoes being turned out by
the naval torpedo station in Newport, Rhode Island. That station was finally
closed down by the Navy for that reason, but due to the power of the unions
it was not accomplished until the war was over.
The battle of Midway from 4 to 6 June had been fought while the DETROIT
was en route to San Francisco. Halsey stayed in the hospital in Richmond for
about three months before going on to Washington where I joined him. Miles
Browning flew in from Pearl, and several conferences were held before he
received orders as Commander Air Force, Pacific in the latter part of August.
At this period the Joint Chiefs of Staff--and particularly Admiral King-were
making plans for future operations in the South Pacific. I didn't know
what was "cooking" then but I had the feeling that it would be "hot." And
"hot" it was. Halsey's staff aboard the ENTERPRISE ??as kept intact and the
task force put under the command of Rear Admiral Kincaid. Rear Admiral
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Spruance had received orders as Chief of Staff to Admiral Nimitz. Only
Miles Browning and I were retained by Halsey when he received orders to become
COMAIRPAC, an administrative shore command. This indicated to me that
Admiral King had other long-range plans for Halsey fqr whom he had great
admiration as a fighter and leader in operational commands. Halsey had
corrmand of Carrier Division Two (ENTERPRISE and YORKTOWN) under Vice Admiral
King when he was COMAIRBATFOR {Oommander, Aircraft Battle Force).
During maneuvers Kinguwould hold a stopwatch and time the takeoffs
and landings and other operations of the different carriers. When foul-ups
occurred. he would demand immediate explanation. I recall one time when
there was a foul-up on the flight deck of the YORKTOWN, and King signaled
Halsey as follows, "Determine the name of the person responsible for the delay
in landings and report it to me. King." I handed the signal to Halsey;
he read it and handed it back to me. He said, "Tell him I'm responsible."
I did. After that incident there were no more dispatches of that nature.
After leaving the hospital, he visited his daughter, who was married
to a DuPont executive, in Wilmington; Delaware.. She had two friends who had
recently been commissioned in the Navy as lieutenants and suggested to
Admiral Halsey that they be ordered to his staff. Halsey told me that he
would order both of these officers as my relief, as he had other plans on
his staff for me,uand that I had been an aide long enough for my ovm good. I
was to train these two officers, and after a period of time I would be asked
to recommend one of them as my relief. This I did; it was Lieutenant William
J. Kitchel, who remained as Halsey's aide throughout the rest of the war.
While Halsey was hospitalized in Richmond, I had not been exactly idle.
I had close friends who lived at Virginia Beach and I rented a duplex apartment
across the street from them for the duration of Halsey's hospitalization.
-67
The air station in Norfolk provided me with air transportation whenever I
needed it to shuttle between Richmond, Washington, and Norfolk.
One night I retired early but was unable to sleep. After tossing about
for a while, I did something that I had never done before. I got up, put on
my uniform, and went down to the Cavalier Hotel for no reason at all. The
Cavalier was just down the street from where I was living. At that time it
was the most popular resort hotel on the Virginia coast. I went into the
lobby, sat down and smoked a cigarette. Across the way I saw the most
beautiful girl I had ever seen in my life; she was reading a book. I couldn't
take my eyes off her. Presently, she began reaching in her purse for a light
to her cigarette, and before she could get it I was standing at her side
offering her one, which she took. We exchanged small talk for awhile, and
then I asked her if she would like to go down to the Cavalier Beach Club to
listen to the music and dance. They always had name bands in those days at
the Cavalier. She said that she would speak to her rrother who was playing
bridge with a group nearby. She took me over and introduced me to her. We
then went down to the beach club, and that's where it all started. Her
name was Bette Beggs. It was a whirlwind courtship. After she and her
mother left for their home in Merion, Pennsylvania, I was invited to come
for a visit with the family. As the announcer always says near the end of
a ballgame, time had now become a factor. Time was running out in my case
because I knew that I would soon be returning to the Pacific with Halsey,
and Bette was on vacation from her job as assistant to the art director of
Harper's Bazaar magazine in New York (Alexuy Brodovitch--a well-known
name in commercial art)u. She was a talented artist and had a Bachelor of
Fine Arts degree from Yale. To make a long story and a happy one short, we
were married on 29 July, 1942 in a quiet family church wedding and
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proceeded to return to the Cavalier on our honeyrroon. After thirty wonderful
days together, I left with Halsey around the end of August for Pearl Harbor,
the headquarters of his new command; Bette returned to her job with Harper's
Bazaar.
After the defeat at Midway, Yamamoto once again from his headquarters
in Truk turned his attention to the South and Southwest Pacific. Admiral
King finally persuaded the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the Japanese threat
to the south must be countered. In early July, our intelligence reported
that the Japs had begun building a large airfield on Guadalcanal. They had
already occupied Tulagi across the strait from Guadalcanal. This fact
caused Admiral King to move up the plan which the Joint Chiefs of Staff had
grudgingly given and to order that Tulagi, a seaplane base, and Guadalcanal
be occupied with such meager forces as were available at that time. The
Guadalcanal landing took place on 7-8 August, 1942. Professor Eliot Morison
reports in his history of the Navy, "The Guadalcanal campaign was the most
bitterly contested in American history since the campaign of northern Virginia
in the Civil War.u"
[Did you ever have an opportunity to talk to Admiral Richardson?]
I never did; he was relieved and retired as a four-star admiral. But
I imagine Halsey had the opportunity, and my information came from Halsey.
[But Richardson of all people could sit back and say, "I told you so."]
But he never did; he never would. He could have said plenty, but he
kept his mouth shut. Halsey knew him well, and Halsey's information had to
have come only from Richardson.
[What would have happened to Task Force 16 had the attack come two
weeks earlier?]
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Well, the LEXINGTON was en route to the West Coast for repairs. The
SARATOGA would probably have been there, and the ENTERPRISE may have been
there. The loss of the battleships was not as disastrous as you may have
thought because they would have been of little use to us at that phase of
the war. But if we had lost the carriers, we would have lost the war in
my judgment because Midway turned the tide, and the carriers turned the tide
at Midway by sinking four Japanese carriers. The number of ships involved
in the Battle of Midway was the largest group of naval vessels ever to engage
in battle in the history of the world. Only three U.uS. carriers turned
the tide, and one, the Yorktown,uwas heavily damaged as a result of the
Battle of the Coral Sea a few weeks before.
[And two weeks before Pearl Harbor those three carriers had been
sitting at Pearl, had they not?]
I would have to check the record on that. I'm sure the SARATOGA was
there because she was training her new air group. The LEX was en route to
the West Coast for repairs, the ENTERPRISE was in and out, but should have
been there on a weekend.
EAST CAROLINA MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW
RADM WILLIAM H. ASHFORD, JR., USN(RET)
INTERVIEW #3
JULY 3, 1979
When Vice Admiral Halsey became COMAIRPAC about 1 September, 1942, he
was taking an administrativeu�job, and Admiral Halsey was renowned for his
operating ability. As suspected, the job proved to be only a breather for him
and gave him a chance to confer often with Admiral Nimitz and soak up important
intelligence being accurrulated in CINCPAC headquarters at Pearl. About
the middle of October, I was ordered to report to Rear Admiral Kinkaid, commander
of Task Force 16, as his tactical officer. He had recently taken over
that command from Admiral Spruance and had retained Admiral Halsey's old staff.
His flag was on the ENTERPRISE. The task force was then composed of the "Big
E," a division of destroyers, plus two cruisers, and the newly arrived battleship
SOUTH DAKOTA. A similar task force was organized around the HORNET, the
Navy's newest carrier, and Rear Admiral George Murray had it as his flagship.
Admiral Murray had been skipper of the ENTERPRISE at Midway and had recently
been promoted. Admiral Kinkaid was in overall command of the two task forces.
Captain O. B. Hardison, a veteran aviator from Raleigh, North Carolina, was
then the commanding officer of the ENTERPRISE.
Admiral Halsey was told by Admiral Nimitz to make an inspection of the
South Pacific with his first stop being Noumea, New Caledonia. He departed
in company with Miles Browning, his chief of staff, and Colonel Julian Brown,
his intelligence officer. They flew in a four-engine Navy seaplane, the
"Coronado." Both Miles Browning and Colonel Brown had been acting in that
capacity with Task Force 16 when Halsey was in command. After joining my old
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shipmates, the task force again set out for the South Pacific. It would be
our job to oppose Yamamoto's efforts to recapture Guadalcanal which intelligence
indicated would not be long in forthcoming. The two task forces were
refueling prior to entering a battle against the naval forces supporting the
Japanese assault on Guadalcanal. The naval battle of Santa Cruz was to take
place two days later. During the ENTERPRISE's fueling operation, a dispatch
was received from Commander South Pacific, addressed to Rear Admiral Kinkaid,
directing four members of Halsey's old staff be transferred without delay to
the staff of COMSOPAC and flown to Noumea. The dispatch was signed by Halsey.
This was our first knowledge that Admiral Halsey had become COMSOPAC.
When Admiral Halsey's plane landed in Noumea, New Caledonia, a small
boat came alongside, and an officer handed to him a secret dispatch which he
opened then and there. The dispatch directed him to relieve his old friend,
Vice Admiral Robert L. Chormley, as COMSOPAC immediately. Cormnander Bromfield
B. Nichol, U.uS. Navy; Commander Leonard J. Dow, U.uS. Navy; Lt. Commander
Horace Moulton, U.uS. Naval Reserve; and I, then a lieutenant commander,
were transferred to a tanker then alongside the ENTERPRISE by high
lines and a boatswain's chair. After fueling was completed, the tanker set
course for the island of Espiritu Santo which was the northernmost island in
the New Hebrides. Vice Admiral Ghormley had only recently ordered the island
to be occupied. Our Seabees had constructed a large landing field on the island,
and Rear Admiral Aubrey W. Fitch, who had been in my training class at the
naval air station in Pensacola in 1929, had been installed as Commander Aircraft
South Pacific. He maintained his headquarters on the island. He was
in operation control of all land based air of all services in the South Pacific.
When the tanker arrived at Espiritu Santo, we made a short courtesy call
on Admiral Fitch at his headquarters and then proceeded to the airfield where
an Army Air Force transport was waiting to fly us to Noumea. The weather was
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foul and the plane flew low. It was a harrowing flight, but I was impressed
with the expertise of the pilots who had been busily engaged for several
weeks in flying fuel in fifty gallon drums and ammunition to the marines at
Guadalcanal. Upon our arrival at Noumea, we were taken aboard the U.uS. S.
ARGONNE, an old seaplane tender anchored in the harbor. It had been used as
Admiral Ghorrnley's temporary headquarters, with only a skeleton staff.
The remainder of his staff was in New Zealand, the location of his principal
headquarters. When we got aboard, we went directly to Admiral Halsey's
cabin. It was about 8:00 p.m. Admiral Halsey was sitting alone at his desk
reading dispatches. He looked up and greeted us with this statement, "It's
a goddamn mess. Look around and see what's to be done and do it." He said
that the situation at Guadalcanal was extremely precarious and that the
forthcoming naval battle might decide the issue. Furthermore, Admiral
Kinkaid's forces were greatly outnumbered. He then rang for a steward and
told him to prepare food for us. The next morning I looked up the air
operations officer and told him that I had reported aboard as his relief.
No one had ever told me what job I was to have er wrom I was to relieve. I
picked that job as the one which I felt best qualified to handle.
Admiral Ghorrnley's staff members aboard the ARGONNE were so exhausted from
lack of sleep, overwork, and from the strain being placed on their shoulders
that they were in a kind of daze. I felt they had just about reached the
limit of human endurance. Captain John Roper was the operations officer,
and he stayed on for a time to help Admiral Halsey and Miles Browning get
their feet on the ground, so to speak. Captain Roper later became aide to
Mr. James Forrestal, our first Secretary of Defense, and retired as a vice
admiral. He was relieved by Captain Ray Thurber (Harry Raymond--later Vice
Admiral), U.uS. Navy, a mild-mannered, efficient officer who knew surface
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ships and tactics and whose judgment Admiral Halsey relied on greatly.
Captain Thurber was my immediate superior and gave me every assistance I
desired. A young naval historian,who is writing a biography of Miles Browning,
recently wrote me that he had been in contact with Vice Admiral Thurber's
widow seeking information on Captain Browning when he served with Captain
Thurber in SOPAC. She told him that Admiral Thurber had directed that all of
his records be burned after his death.
Captain Roper was an outstanding officer. He had a brother who became
a major general in the Army.
As I recall, it was about two days after we had reported to Admiral
Halsey that our carrier task forces under admirals Kinkaid and Murray encountered
a greatly superior Japanese surface force. consisting of four
carriers, several battleships, several cruisers, and many destroyers and
submarines. The battle took place in the forenoon, and during that afternoon
and far into the night we were receiving battle reports and intelligence
reports. During the action the HORNET received several bomb and torpedo
hits. All power and communications were lost. The crew, for the most part,
had been taken off. The ENTERPRISE landed the HORNET's air group aboard-or
what was left of it. The HORNET was listing badly and was in tow by the
heavy cruiser NORTHAMPTON. It was about midnight when Miles Browning came
in and handed me an urgent dispatch to send to Admiral Kinkaid, the OTC,
in the ENTERPRISE. He was grim. The dispatch read, "Sink HORNET with
torpedoes.u" Intelligence had been received that the Japanese surface forces,
including battleships, were closing on our task force as they were retiring
during the night at very slow speed. The Japs knew the condition of the
HORNET and were out to get her. No other choice was left. ENTERPRISE had
also received bomb damage and had lost a large part of her air group to Jap
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Zero fighters and anti-aircraft as had the HORNET. I later learned from an
eyewitness that it took some eight or ten torpedoes to sink the HORNET. She
was a tough bird. Her loss was a grievous blow to Admiral Halsey and left
only two carriers in the Pacific. The WASP had recently been torpedoed.
The SARATOGA was still under repair, and the ENTERPRISE's forward elevator
was inoperable from the bomb hits received that day. The need for her in
the South Pacific was so great that she could not be returned to Pearl for
repair, but she was brought to Noumea where the crew and all available assistants
on the island worked around the clock making temporary repairs to her
forward elevator. A part of HORNET's air group was transferred to ENTERPRISE,
and another part was sent to Guadalcanal to fight the air battle with the
1st Marine Air Wing.
In the battle of Santa Cruz Island we took a licking, but it did offer
some temporary relief in time to our hard pressed marines on Guadalcanal and
gave Halsey some breathing space to prepare for the next onslaught which was
soon to come. Admiral Halsey had only about three weeks after the battle of
Santa Cruz in which to assemble a force of sufficient size to attempt to
oppose the "Tokyo Express" which was rapidly reinforcing the Jap land forces
at night following the Santa Cruz action. We now know that they then outnumbered
our marines. Every effort was being made to repair the damage to
the forward elevator on the ENTERPRISE. The forward elevator was fortunately
in the up position, but no attempt was made to test the repairs for fear
that if it was lowered, they might not be able to get it back up and that
would make the ENTERPRISE completely inoperable. By 2 November Admiral
Halsey had re-assembled his forces which would escort two groups of transports
totaling seven; one group was escorted by forces under Rear Admiral
Daniel Callaghan, and the other group was under Rear Admiral Norman Scott.
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Repairs on the "Big E" were still being rushed at Noumea,uand it was hoped
that she would be able to cover those forces. She didn't quite make it in
time but did get up on the second day of the action with repairmen still
aboard and was able to finish off some cripples with her air group.
The Jap forces which came down the "Slot" that night were set to bombard
the marines with high explosive shrapnel and to knock out Henderson
Field once and for all. As a matter of interest they had to change the
shrapnel shells to armor piercing shells after they knew they were going to
encounter our naval forces, and the Jap forces greatly outgunned those of
Callaghan and Scott. Their composition was known as they were reported by
our coast watchers on Bougainville Island on the way down. The action that
took place was a most serious disaster for our side. Admirals Callaghan and
Scott,ualong with most of their staffs,were killed early in the night action.
Then their forces became separated and the battle turned into a melee at
very close ranges. This night action lasted only a few minutes, but was
considered by Admiral King to have been one of the most furious naval battles
ever fought.
During the night and through the following day,uI was plotting the results
in the chart room on the ARGONNE. When morning came my plot, based on the
intelligence then in hand, indicated eight destroyers sunk and three cruisers
sunk or damaged. The number of ships sunk, based on later information, was
changed to four destroyers and two cruisers sunk, but all ships had been
damaged. There was one redeeming feature, however; the mission of the
Japs to destroy Henderson Field and conduct a high explosives shrapnel bombardment
against our land forces was thwarted. The next day our planes from
Henderson Field, which now included some ENTERPRISE and HORNET planes, sank
many Jap transports which were returning to Rabaul without having discharged
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6
their cargo. The Japs had lost one battleship and two destroyers in the
previous night's battle. The morning after the battle I handed Admiral
Halsey the following dispatch from Major General Vandegrift who commanded
the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal: "The men of the 1st Marine Division
lift their battered helmets to the gallant crews of Callaghan and Scott.u"
Thus the first naval battle under Halsey's direction for the control of
Guadalcanal had taken place. The battle of Savo Island (with Rear Admiral
Kelly Turner as OTC) which had been previous to this was also a major disaster
for us. This battle lasted three days and may well go down in history as
one of the bitterest ever fought. I'm referring now to the battle in which
Callaghan and Scott were lost. Six rrore major naval actions were to follow
during the next four months and several minor ones before the Japs called it
quits and evacuated their troops.
During rrost of that period the 1st Marine Division (under the brilliant
command of General Archer Vandegrift) had to carry on the fight without
relief. They did get some reinforcements later from one regiment of the
Army's Americal Division. Those battles have been well recorded in history
and will not be repeated here. Suffice to say at this point that it was touch
and go all the way.
After the naval battle of Guadalcanal in which we suffered such heavy
losses during the night action, Halsey relized that something must be done
to improve the training in night fighting. He accordingly collected the
cruisers and destroyers available to him and put them under command of Rear
Admiral Kinkaid for training as a unit in the forward area with emphasis on
night operations. Unfortunately for Admiral Halsey, Rear Admiral Kinkaid was
detached before that training got under way. When Captain Halsey had
commanded Destroyer Squadron 3 in 1930u, which consisted of eighteen destroyers,
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he gained a Navy-wide reputation for audacity and risk taking. He conducted
intensive training, particularly in night operations during darkened ship
conditions. He would use only whistle signals for course changes and steamed
at very high speeds during darkness. Up to that time,umany of our destroyers
had been deployed in convoying transports and had not had the opportunity of
such training as I have mentioned. Admiral Halsey used such forces as were
available to him in his efforts to stop the "Tokyo Express" from continuing
to reinforce the Jap land forces on the island. The Japs had the advantage in
numbers of combatant ships, experienced crews, training in night fighting,
and better and longer range torpedoes.
The one advantage on our side was pure guts and Halsey's determination
to battle it out to the last. I remember well that his forces had been so
reduced or disabled because of the many night actions opposing the "Tokyo
Express" that finally it came down to the point where only the battleship
WASHINGTON and two destroyers were left to oppose the "Tokyo Express." But
send them he did. We thought it would be the last effort, but that night
the "Tokyo Express" did not arrive! A decision had been made by the Jap
high command to evacuate their land forces. They did not know how decimated
our naval forces were. We had outlasted them by twenty-four hours. They
still had many ships, particularly those left at Truk, which they could have
sent down.
The fighting on Guadalcanal and the many naval and air battles during
the campaign for the control of the island have been well covered in history.
In the remaining part of this narrative covering my duties as Halsey's Air
Operation Officer in the South Pacific, I will describe some of the personal
experiences and observations which may be of interest as a sidelight to that
campaign before I was detached in August, 1943, to assume command of a fighter
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training base in Florida in the Operational Training Command. Despite the
critical situation that Halsey was facing in trying to get supplies to the
marines and at the same time disrupt the "Tokyo Express" during its nightly
visit, he set about to change a number of things which he considered essential
in order to improve the overall situation and boost morale. When he learned
that the marines on the "Canal,u" as the island later came to be called, were
not getting any mail, he made an inspection at Noumea to determine the cause.
He found stacks and stacks of mail piled two stories high in the open surrounded
by a sea of rrud. They had been piling up for weeks. He took immedaite
steps to remedy that.
As pointed out previously, Vice Admiral Ghormley was trying to fight a
war from his flagship, the U.uS. S. ARGONNE, anchored in Noumea harbor with
a skeleton staff and inadequate communications. Admiral Halsey soon decided
that the situation had to be changed and fast. He told Colonel Julian Brown,
USMC, his intelligence officer, to put on his best uniform with all of his
ribbons which included the Croix de Guerre, and a set of dress aiguillettes,
and call on the governor of New Caledonia Island. The island was Free French
and the governor reported to General de Gaulle who was maintaining a government
in exile in London. Admiral Halsey had noted a vacant barracks building
that had once been used by the French forces. It was run down and badly in
need of repair. Colonel Brown was to ask the governor for permission to fix
it up as Admiral Halsey's headquarters. When the request was made by Colonel
Brown, the governor's reply was, "What do we get out of it?" Colonel Brown
replied that the island would be getting the security offered by our presence
just as it had in the past. De Gaulle had already given permission for the
Allies to use the island as a base. The governor was also the commandant of
the island of New Caledonia and commanded the security forces consisting
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rrostly of natives of the island. The commandant's reply was a shrug of the
shoulders, but the requested permission was not forthcoming. Colonel Brown
then left and returned to the ARGONNE to report to Halsey. When he told
Admiral Halsey that the commandant had merely shrugged his shoulders, his
reaction was immediate, "Have the Seabees prepare the building for occupancy
as my headquarters at the first possible opportunity." One of his next
actions was to order the remainder of Admiral Ghormley's staff, then in
New Zealand, to move to Noumea. He then sent a secret dispatch which was
routed through our State Department requesting General de Gaulle's permission
to install a radio tower and added comrmmications to handle the ever increasing
traffic. Believe it or not,de Gaulle's reply was a flat "no." The reason
given was that such an installation would infringe on French sovereignty!
Numerous dispatches followed all routed through the State Department. As I
recall, Admiral Halsey finally disregarded General de Gaulle's messages and
had the Seabees set up the necessary communication facilities within the
barracks building which we had occupied. That episode clearly showed why
cooperation with General de Gaulle was so difficult for all of his contemporaries
during the remainder of the war.
[But you never got a reaction from the island commander who just shrugged
his shoulders when you went ahead and did it?]
We never heard a peep out of him, and it was just as well that we didn't,
I think, for the island commander. As soon as the facilities were ready, we
nnved into the headquarters ashore and were joined by the remainder of Admiral
Ghormley's staff. Admiral Halsey took up residence ashore in the house formerly
occupied by the Japanese consul, and a small group of his staffu, including
me, moved into a residence close to Admiral Halsey's quarters which had been
vacated by a "Vichy Frenchman" (German collaborator) who was either driven off
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or had fled the island. Also Quonset huts were set up to house the remainder
of the staff which was gradually expanded to some 250 officers and men.
The house in which I lived with about six or seven other staff officers
who had been close to Admiral Halsey became known as "Havoc Hall." It
became quite famous in the South Pacific. I suppose the name was derived
from the fact that for awhile we had the only supply of liquor in American
hands on the island. It came about this way. When Admiral Ghormley's staff
arrived from New Zealand, two of its members were invited to share our
quarters. One member was Robert Montgomery, the well known movie actor and
director who directed the movie of Admiral Halsey's career after the war was
over. He was also advisor to General Eisenhower in the delivery of his
television speeches. The other was Gene Markey who was a movie director and
author and among other things had been married to movie actresses Joan
Bennett, Myrna Loy, and Hedy Lemarr. He was then unmarried.
They did not arrive from New Zealand exactly bare handed for they
brought with them a goodly supply of liquor. We cached it away in a well
secured garage in back of "Havoc Hall", and set up a bar on our back porch.
We got possession of a piano, and since one of our group??uplayed very well, we
enjoyed singing after hours. At night we gathered around the piano with
drinks and enjoyed ourselves. We also engaged in after dinner speaking
every night. The speeches were all extemporaneous on any subject dished up
at the time. I might add that "Havoc Hall" was the most popular spot in
Noumea when the commanding officers of ships arrived in port. I've never
known a person who could speak extemporaneously, as fluently, and as
intelligently on any given subject as Gene Markey. Needless to say, during
the grim days that followed, our evenings were enlivened considerably by the
presence of Bob and Gene and their "booty."
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The French colonials on New Caledonia did not look kindly on our presence.
They kept off the streets and closed their blinds when we first arrived.
once went into a French shop--something approaching a department store--to
buy a small item. All the clerks turned their backs on me and none came
forward to ask what I wanted. It was the last time I went into a French
shop. In a way you couldn't blame them too rruch because they knew their
stock could not be replenished, and they wanted to save what they had for
themselves. In all of the French colonial possessions I have visited such
as Algeria, Morocco, and Martinque, I have found that colonials lived on the
fat of the land and ruled the natives with an iron hand.
The French in New Caledonia had imported their servants from Indonesia.
The Indonesian women I saw had dignity, beauty, and style even though they
might have been barefooted and wore clothes that were somewhat tattered.
The native population of New Caledonia was Melanesian, black. I have never
seen a group of men more powerfully built than the native New Caledonians.
As one moved north toward the equator, the natives in the New Hebrides and
the Solorrons became smaller in stature. The heat, malaria, and disease took
its toll. New Guinea just south of the equator was theu.uhome of the Pygmies.
The islands of the eastern Pacific from Hawaii to Tonga were Polynesian, and
in the western Pacific Melanesian as far north as the Mariannas. The Navy
was careful not to station black personnel on the Polynesian Islands in order
not to mix the races.
The shutters which I had first observed to be closed when walking in the
French Quarter of the city must have been open to a considerable degree as
time went on because one day Admiral Halsey received a message from the
French commandant which stated that a number of French girls had become
pregnant from their association with members of SOPAC forces. He wanted to
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know what Admiral Halsey intended to do about it. Admiral Halsey sent him a
reply which said in effect, "Fighting men are 'frolicking' men and I am not
going to do a damn thing about it."
When our forces first moved into the South Pacific, a small naval base
was set up on the Polynesian island of Tongatabu to be used as a fueling
station. It was far removed from the scene of conflict and had a good harbor.
As the war progressed and New Caledonia and Espiritu Santo became secure,
Tongatabu was no longer needed as a fueling station. Tongatabu was one of
some sixty islands in the Tonga group to the southeast of Fiji. They comprised
an independent kingdom and at that time were ruled by a queen who was
a direct descendant of a long line of kings several centuries old. Great
Britain since 1900 had acted as an advisor for their foreign relations. The
queen weighed about three hundred pounds and was over six feet tall. She
later went to London for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 and
was given royal recognition. She received world-wide publicity at the time.
The base was phased out, but a junior grade lieutenant, who was a bachelor,
was left there apparently as a caretaker. It appears that he must have been
forgotten because he stayed on for some months when he was no longer needed.
He was a favorite of the queen, and she set him up in a grass shack and
provided comely handmaidens to take care of all of his needs. He was finally
"uncovered" and ordered to Noumea for further assignment up the line. I had
him out to dinner when he arrived in Noumea, and he told me of the paradise
he had been living in during the last few months. Bali Hai move over (shades
of "South Pacific")u. He was one of the most unhappy officers you would want
to see for having to rejoin the Navy, so to speak. The reason that the
Tonga Islands are often called the Friendly Islands was readily apparent from
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our contacts with the natives. They also had the highest culture and were
the most intelligent of all of the Polynesians.
The problem of a reserve fuel supply for our ships and planes was of great
concern to Admiral Halsey. He was having to depend on tankers from Hawaii
or Australia, which in turn were vulnerable to submarine action and were
being escorted by our destroyers which were sorely needed in action. A
special conference which I attended was called. Also Admiral Halsey had
daily conferences each rr.orning with his staff and tactical commanders to
discuss the war situation, in general, based on the latest intelligence
available. But at this special meeting he outlined the need for reserve
fuel to be stored in Noumea and then asked for comments from the individuals
who would be responsible for carrying out the project. One by one they
commented on the problems that would be encountered and that weighed against
the project. Admiral Halsey heard them all out; then he said, "You have told
me all of the reasons why the project is not feasible. This meeting is now
adjourned and will reconvene in fifteen minutes. When you return, I want
to hear from you the action you propose to take in order to get the job done."
They found a way and the job was done.
COMSOPAC moved rapidly to improve the morale of the naval and military
personnel on the island. He directed that officers and men of all services-Army,
Navy, Marine, Coast Guard--wear the same uniforms, Army issue khaki.
The men of all services were to be one group--South Pacific fighting men, and
he had a shoulder patch designed with SOPAC on it. Although Noumea was a
fairly large city, there were no open bars where the officers and men coming
in from long periods at sea could go to relax and unwind. The Red Cross
had set up canteens where cigarettes and soft drinks were available, but
that did not suffice for men who had undergone long periods of strain at sea
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in war. Admiral Halsey took over the largest hotel on the island to set up
clubs for the officers and men and obtained stocks of liquor. It was called
the Club Pacifico. That rrove was great for morale.
It was during one of the several buildups of combatant ships and troop
transports in the Rabaul harbor, New Ireland, that COMSOPAC requested air
strikes against the ships by Major General George Kenney who commanded the
Army's 5th Air Force with headquarters in New Guinea. He responded with a
few night strikes using flares with heavy bombers at high altitude, but the
effort was feeble and ineffective. Admiral Halsey had good reason to resent
the lack of cooperation and support from General George Kenney on several
occasions. Later after the invasion force had come down the "Slot" and had
been repelled with the aid of the "BiguE'L-which was the last big attempt to
reinforce the island--and the transports were in retreat toward Rabaul,
Admiral Halsey handed me a message to send to General Kenney, "Many cripples
returning to Rabaul. These should be easy pickings." A prompt reply came
back from General Kenney, "All B-17's have been grounded for tail wheel
shimmy by orders of General Arnold." Sometime later I was ordered along with
Miles Browning and Major General Millard Harmon and his staff to attend
meetings with the joint chiefs of staff in Washington, covering mainly the
subject of air reinforcements for the South Pacific. Admiral Halsey told me
to take the Kenney dispatches to Washington when I went. I gave them to Vice
Admiral John Sidney McCain who was then Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for
Air. He was as amazed as anyone else.
High level horizontal bombing proved to be entirely ineffective against
ships, especially ships underway because you could see the bombs falling and
have time to maneuver out of the way. General Kenney later developed a
technique called skip bombing in which he used the twin engine B-25 to close
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ships at low altitudes and to release bombs just short of the target which
would skip into the side of the ship, much like you skip a rock across a pond.
This technique was very effective against unarmed transports, but it would
have been suicidal if attempted against combatant ships such as destroyers or
cruisers.
Large numbers of cargo vessels loaded with military supplies and weapons
were anchored in Noumea harbor waiting to be unloaded. Most ships had been
loaded in West Coast ports by means of track cranes, and some items were so
heavy that the ships cranes were not capable of lifting them. The nearest
large floating crane was in Australia. Some ships had been waiting as long
as ninety days to unload, and Halsey used every means available to remedy
the situation, but there were many snafues that plagued him to the end. For
example, all islands were given code names, and destination of ships and
cargo were designated by those code names. We learned that in the case of
some torpedo shipments, the warhead, the main body, and the tail assembly of
the torpedo were loaded on different ships and each ship routed to a different
destination. I mention these problems for they only go to show the problems
a wartime commander in the field faces when a nation as unprepared for war as
we were is forced into one.
It was about this time when some bureaucrat in the Department of Interior
in Washington had a flash of brilliance, "Why not save our cargo space by
having the troops in the field grow their own vegetables from seeds shipped
to them?" He sent two representatives to Noumea to sell the idea to Admiral
Halsey. When he heard of their mission, he said, "To hell with the seeds;
tell them I want beans and bullets and send them home." I don't think he
ever met with them.
In my opinion the unsung heroes of the naval and land battles which took
place in the South Pacific campaign--especially the Guadalcanal campaign-
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were the coast watchers. They were Australians who had managed island plantations
and had intimate knowledge of the terrain and natives. They took up
locations on various islands lying along the "Slot" between Rabaul and
Guadalcanal. Accompanied by one or rrore friendly natives and a portable radio
transmitter and receiver, they moved behind Japanese lines and gave our forces
on Guadalcanal the composition and number of ships and aircraft headed down
the "Slot" for attacks on Guadalcanal. Usually from thirty to forty-five
minutes warning was given for aircraft. That was just enough time for our
fighter planes at Henderson Field to get up to 25,000 feet to intercept the
incoming aircraft at an advantageous altitude. There were times when we
were able to scramble no more than seven or eight fighters to meet the
attack. Several hours warning was received in the case of ships coming down
the "Slot.u" One of the most useful of these coast watchers was one on the
northern portion of Bougainville Island occupied by Japs. It was the most
useful because it was nearest their base at Rabaul and in a position to give
us more timely warning. The Japs occupying the island knew of this coast
watcher's existence and put pressure on the natives to assist them in getting
him. One day Admiral Halsey received a message from him relayed from General
Geiger at Henderson Field saying that the natives in a town on the north
coast of Bougainville had become increasingly hostile and were closing in on
him and that although he was constantly on the move, he doubted that he could
hold out much longer. Admiral Halsey's reaction was prompt and to the point.
He said, "Send up bombers and wipe out the town tomorrow." They did. Leaflets
were prepared and dropped on the other towns warning of a similar fate
if they (the natives) aided the Japs. The pressures on the coast watchers
in that area was relieved in so far as the natives were concerned. They
had gotten the message loud and clear.
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Events had been moving so swiftly in SOPAC that I had not asked for permission
to go to Espiritu Santo and confer with Rear Admiral Fitch, who was
COMAIRSOPAC, and his staff, or to Guadalcanal to see something of the air
operation at Henderson Field and to gain firsthand knowledge of the problems
connected with air operations there. I now requested permission to take off
for a couple of weeks and make the trip. Two assistant air operations officers
had been added to the staff so permission was granted. When I got to
Guadalcanal, I reported to the commander of the 1st Marine Air Wing, Major
General "Lew" Woods, who had recently relieved Major General Roy Geiger,
USMC. General Geiger had been ordered to the U.uS. to form and command the
3rd Marine Division. He later returned to SOPAC with that division which distinguished
itself as amphibious operations moved northward into Bougainville.
I was quartered in a tent with a friend and classmate, Major Toby Munn, USMC
(Lt. Gen. John Calvin Munn) who later became assistant commandant of the
Marine Cor,ps. Never have I seen a group of men who were more exhausted. In
addition to the occasional bombardments from the Jap ships,uthere were nightly
visits from "Sewing Machine Charlie.u" That was the nickname given to the
small single engine plane carrying small bombs which kept the personnel at
Henderson Field in their fox holes, which were next to their tents, a good
part of each night. It was only a nuisance raid, but the loss of sleep and
the time spent in dank, mosquito ridden fox holes was taking its toll.
Marines suffered more casualties from malaria than from combat.
For more than four months marines held the line with never a day going
by without seeing action. Among the outstanding exploits that took place
during that period were the operatlons of Carlson's Marine Raiders, Lt.
Colonel Evans Carlson, USMC. That was a battalion of marines highly trained
in jungle warfare and survival techniques that operated without support
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except for the help of the natives behind the enemy lines as long as thirty
days at a time. They ambushed the Japs many times and made history. The
company was formed originally commanded by Lt. Colonel Evans Carlson, USMC,
as I have stated. While I was on the "Canal," they came in from a thirty
day foray after having surprised a company of enemy troops while they were
eating breakfast and wiped them all out with the loss of only two men to
their own force. Brave men all. I was told of an instance while I was there
which I cannot vouch for but can well believe. A marine was returning from
the battle line with two Jap prisoners. Two other marines were on their way
to the front. Just before passing on the trail, one of the Japs raised his
thumb to his nose and flagged his fingers at the two oncoming marines. The
sign as you well know means, "Kiss my ass.u" Then one of the weary marines
returning to the front spontaneously raised his tommy gun and killed both
prisoners instantly. There is a limit of endurance in every man.�
After having time to see some of the things which were needed by the
marines, I prepared a dispatch to COMSOPAC listing the aid which I felt might
be provided. Among the items were metal stands with chain hoists used by the
carriers for making engine changes. Marines were having to use block and
tackles secured to palm trees. Another high priority item was night fighter
planes to shoot down "Sewing Machine Charlie" together with the specialized
radar used for making interception. Then I took the dispatch to General
Woods to read and approve. After reading it, he turned to me and said,
"Don't send it.u" I was somewhat nonplused anci asked him why. He answered
in effect, "We are marines. We will improvise and we will find a way. We
won't ask for that kind of help.u" So no dispatch was sent. However, when I
returned to Noumea, I did take steps to get some radar equipment which had
been developed by the British and used to direct their night fighters in
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making interceptions on large groups of heavy bombers that were making nightly
raids on London. When that equipment was tried out against "Sewing Machine
Charlie" it proved to be of little or no value. "Sewing Machine Charlie"
was a small target and he was too nimble. He flew at low altitudes and darted
and twisted and turned like a hornet on the attack. Attempts to hold him in
the beams of search lights to enable night fighters to close also proved of
little value.
Our fighter aircraft which were in service during the first months of
the war were not as fast or as maneuverable as the Jap Zero fighter, but we
soon took steps to determine the Zero's weak spots. One of them had been
shot down at Pearl Harbor and was in very good condition. It had landed in
the mud flats near the beach, close by the main channel. It was completely
restored to operating condition and used in combat training by our aviators
in dogfights with U.uS. fighter aircraft. The Japs had sacrificed armoru�
protection for the pilot's cockpit in order to get superior performance. In
a dogfight it was also learned that the best way to shake a Zero off your tail
was to go into a steep left hand dive and turn. The Zero had difficulty in
following. These factors enabled us to hold our own until we could get newly
designed fighters such as the Hellcat and the Corsair off the drawing board
and into service. The marine planes were identical to navy planes, and marine
squadrons were rotated on and off the carriers prior to the war. Marine
flyers received the same training as naval flyers at Pensacola and received
the same wings and designation--that of a "naval aviator."
Back in Noumea some relief for the hard pressed 1st Marine Division
arrived in the form of a brigade of the Army's Americal Division. It was
commanded by Major General Alexander Patch, U.uS. Army, who relieved General
Vandegrift. Also, General MacArthur agreed to divert the Army's 25th
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Division then en route to his command as relief for the 1st Marine Division
under General Vandegrift. The 25th was commanded by Major General J. Lawton
Collins, U.S. Army, "Lightening Joe," as he was called. He was later to
command an Army corps under General Bradley during the invasion of Normandy.
He came ashore and attended Admiral Halsey's conference as soon as the troop
ships had anchored. He was introduced by Admiral Halsey to the group at his
conference. "Lightening Joe" made a little speech and told the group that
as soon as his troops had been ashore for a few days and had a chance to
stretch their legs, they would be ready to proceed on up to Guadalcanal to
relieve the hard pressed marines. Admiral Halsey said, "General, you sail
tomorrow morning at 0800." With the arrival of two regiments of the 2nd
Marine Division, the remainder of the battle worn and decimated 1st Marine
Division was relieved and sent to New Zealand to rest, recuperate, and reorganize.
They had made their contribution to history. I recently learned
that the history of that division is now being written and will soon be published
and offered for sale by a well known publishing house.
It was Admiral Halsey's practice to always invite commanding officers
of any ships coming into Noumea to his daily conference. He was always anxious
to learn firsthand of their experiences while at sea. He always gave credit
where credit was due. That was one of the elements of his outstanding
leadership. As an example, just before he left the U.uS. to return to Pearl
Harbor and become commander Aircraft Pacific, he was invited to go to the
Naval Academy and give a talk to the midshipmen. I went with him and sat
among the midshipmen. His talk concentrated on the positive approach. He
singled out many individuals by name who had made noteworthy contributions
and told of their experiences. He graciously pointed me out to the audience
as his "sharp eyed flag lieutenant" who had spotted a front during our getaway
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from the Gilberts which was used to conceal the task force from attacking
bombers. To close what I believed to be a front, we had to change course
from 090 degrees--due east--to 345 degrees parallel the Gilbert Islands. In
other words, by turning to the northwest, we would not be gaining separation
from the enemy bases, but we would be seeking a front. The 090 degrees was
our initial course to Pearl Harbor. It was not an easy decision for Admiral
Halsey to make because we were taking a chance.
Halsey was pressing Admiral Nimitz and Admiral King hard for ships,
aircraft, and pilot reinforcements. The joint chiefs finally decided to give
him a hearing. He received a dispatch setting up a date for his representatives
to present their case to the joint chiefs of staff in Washington. The
dispatch stated that his air officer should be a member of the group. The
membership of the group consisted of Major General Millard Harmon who was in
overall command of all Army forces under Admiral Halsey, his chief of staff,
Brigadier General Nathan (Nate) Twining (later general and chief of staff of
the U.uS. Air Force), and members of his innnediate staff--Miles Browning
and myself. General Harmon's headquarters were also in Noumea. The flight
was made in an Army four-engine Liberator named the "Ever Loving Dove." It
had been assigned as General Harmon's personal plane.
When we reached Pearl, we first called on Admiral Nimitz. During that
visit Admiral Spruance, who was then chief of staff to Admiral Nimitz, took
me into the chart room and explained the long range strategy that was to be
used in prosecution of the war. It called for an amphibious operation across
the Central Pacific, and he pointed out that the resources necessary to begin
those operations would have to take priority over reinforcements to the SOPAC.
This was not a very auspicious occasion for our trip to Washington to request
reinforcements. That indicated that our meeting with the joint chiefs of
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staff might not be as fruitful as we had hoped. I recalled that Sunday morning
of 7 December, 1941 when I had the staff duty on the bridge of the "Big E"
nearing Pearl Harbor and the dispatch from the Secretary of the Navy was
handed me saying that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor and to execute
Rainbow 5--the war plan against the Japanese. No one then realized that it
would be two years before the first operation of that plan would take place.
It took place on the shores of Tarawa in November, 1943, where the marines
fought one of their bloodiest battles of the war. That was six months away
when I talked with Admiral Spruance who was in overall command of the
operation. Major General Holland "Howlin' Mad" Smith, USMC, commanded the
marines. In retrospect, I assumed that Admiral Spruance then knew that he
would command that operation of Rainbow 5 and was then developing his plans.
That afternoon Miles dropped in to see Vice Admiral John (Jack) Towers who
was one of our first three naval aviators and who had become Commander Aircraft
Pacific after Halsey left to become Commander SOPAC. Captain Forrest
Sherman, who had been in command of the carrier WASP when she was sunk, was
his chief of staff. After that call on Admiral Towers, Miles told me that
Captain Sherman would be going to Washington with our group and when we got
to Washington I could take off and spend the time with my wife, Bette, who
would be coming down from New York to be with me. In other words, he and
Captain Sherman would represent COMSOPAC in the meetings with the joint chiefs
of staff. I told Miles that I was ordered to be present at those meetings
and if I was not allowed to attend, I would not go to Washington; I would
return to Noumea. He said no more so that ended the conversation on that
subject. It never occurred to me that I had no way to get to Noumea except
to wait at Pearl for the return of the "Ever Loving Dove.u" Captain Sherman
went on to Washington with us, but he did not attend any of the meetings
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involving SOPAC which I attended. My relations with Captain Sherman were
always good, and when he became Chief of Naval Operations after the war, I
was given command of the Navy's air transport system, Commander of the
Fleet Logistic Air Wing, Atlantic and Pacific, reporting directly to him.
Bette took a week off from her job in New York as assistant art director
of Madamoiselle magazine and came to Washington to be with me. She brought
a week's work with her, and we stayed at the Statler. Upon reporting in at
the Navy Department, I was assigned a desk and given secretarial help in the
old Navy building on Constitution Avenue. The joint chiefs of staff meetings
were held just across the street from my office. The chairman of the joint
chiefs of staff at that time was Admiral William Leahy. He also held the
title of chief of staff to the President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. We
presented our case, but in the final analysis we got much less than we had
hoped for.
Soon after our return to Noumea, I went to Espiritu Santo, the headquarters
of Rear Admiral Aubrey Fitch, U.uS. Navy, who was commander Aircraft
South Pacific, to brief him and his staff on the results of our Washington
conferences. It was becoming increasingly apparent that there should be
closer liaison between SOPAC and Southwest PAC--General MacArthur's command,
his staff and personnel--in order to increase the effectiveness of our operations.
This was particularly true in the case of air operations being
conducted by General George Kenney's 5th Air Force and COMAIRSOPAC. So it
was arranged that SOPAC representatives would proceed to Brisbane, Australia,
and confer with General MacArthur's staff and then go to General Kenney's
headquarters at Port Moresby on New Guinea Island. Rear Admiral Fitch was to
be Halsey's senior representative on this trip. I went along and took Hank
Everest, my assistant air operations officer, with me. He was then a full
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colonel in the Army Air Force, and I was a commander in the Navy, although
my class at the Naval Academy was one class senior to his class at West Point-that's
how rapidly Army Air Force aviators were promoted. General MacArthur's
headquarters were in the Lennox Hotel in Brisbane which had been taken over
in its entirety, and we were quartered there. The top floor--the eighth
floor--was occupied by the General and Mrs. MacArthur, his son, and his son's
amah. Major General Sutherland, chief of staff to General MacArthur, was in
charge of all meetings held at MacArthur's headquarters. These meetings were
held in a conference room adjoining General MacArthur's office. During the
meeting--so far as I know--no member of our party ever saw General MacArthur,
including Admiral Fitch. When a question arose that would require a decision
from him, General Sutherland would say, "I rrust consult the General on that."
Then he would excuse himself, confer with General MacArthur in the next room,
and return with the answer. General MacArthur was probably the only man alive
who could turn the damper down on the sun in heaven. He was somewhere between
man and god, and his remark when he waded ashore at the Philippines after
saying, "I will return" was, "At least they will know I can't walk on water."
From Brisbane we were flown to Port Moresby in an Army B-17 bomber. I
was quartered in a tent with General Kenney's aide during our stay there.
While at Port Moresby the Japs put on a show for us in the form of an air
raid of one large bomber flying at an altitude of about 15,000 feet at night.
The weather was clear and large searchlights were trained on the bomber.
Night fighters were launched, and one succeeded in shooting down the Jap
bomber. Those tactics of the Japs were quite different from those of "Sewing
Machine Charlie." At Moresby during the raid no one went into fox holes
because a bomber raid of this type was infrequent and not considered to pose
rrruch of a threat to personnel.
EAST CAROLINA MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW
JULY 12, 1979
REAR ADMIRAL WILLIAM H. ASHFORD, JR., USN(RET)
INTERVIEW #4
From Moresby we were flown in B-25 bombers to Dobodura on the east
coast of New Guinea which was in the forward area. A number of airfields
had been built in that area by the Fifth Air Force. They were close to
Buna, a Jap stronghold, and air combat was a daily occurrence. After
inspecting facilities there, we returned to Moresby and then to Brisbane.
In talking with General Kenney's aide, I learned that many of the news
releases that I had seen published in the United States in which they
stated that, "The supreme commander has taken the field," meant that General
MacArthur had flown from Brisbane to Port Moresby and taken up residence
at "Governor's House." There was a B-17 designated to fly in fresh vegetables
and other comrnodites as desired for the duration of his stay at
"Governor's House," which had been formerly used by the governor of New
Guinea.
After returning to Brisbane, Admiral Fitch decided that we were entitled
to a little R & R (rest and recreation)u, so we flew down to Sidney to unwind.
Sidney had a wonderful harbor and docking facilities. I was surprised to
see such a large number of cargo ships anchored in the harbor and asked why
there were so many ships there. The answer was that the Australian longshoremen
were on strike and were not unloading the ships even though the
prospect of invasion had not subsided. These strikes occurred from time
to time for the duration of the war. It was hard to understand how the
unions could or would jeopardize a nation's security to that extent. If
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it was bad then, it is ten times worse today--so much so that a nwnber of
American multi-national industrial concerns are closing down their opera
tions in Australia because of the control exercised by those labor unions.
Our stay in Sidney was a welcome relief to all, and Rear Admiral Ralph
Wood, USN, the senior naval aviator assigned to General MacArthur's command,
went out of his way to make our visit a pleasant one. He had official
chauffeur-driven cars placed at our disposal. Down-under they were living
the "life of Riley.u"
Any hope of getting air support from the Fifth Air Force was dashed
after our conference in Brisbane. We knew how Admiral Nimitz and Admiral
Ghormley and General Harrron must have felt when they held a very important
conference in Noumea after Guadalcanal was occupied and told General
MacArthur's chief of staff (MacArthur was a no-show) that in their opinion
Guadalcanal could not be held without support from MacArthur's command and
they asked for it. The answer was a flat "no." I assume that General
Sutherland, his chief of staff, had received his instructions before he
left Brisbane--hence MacArthur's failure to attend the conference.
Back in Noumea we were soon to hear some more bad news. Admiral
Halsey's son, Bill, who was a junior-grade lieutenant on duty on the
SARATOGA, had a chance to fly to Noumea when three torpedo planes came in
for spare parts from the SARATOGA. He spent one night with his father
before having to take off for his return to the SARATOGA in one of the
torpedo planes. Admiral Halsey himself was a Navy junior. His father was
Captain William F. Halsey, USN, who had a most illustrious career. After
taking off from Noumea, all three planes were reported missing. It was a
stunning blow for Admiral Halsey. When Ray Thurber, his operations officer,
came in to advise him of the search plan that he had instituted, he told
Ray that the scope of the search to be launched for the survivors would be
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the same for his son as he would do for any other member of his command.
Fortunately, after four days of anxiety, the crews of the missing planes
were located--all in good condition. They had been forced down at sea
because of weather and they took to their rubber boats. They were found on
a small island in the New Hebrides four days later.
During the first year of the war Admiral Halsey probably received nnre
publicity in the news media in the United States than any other officer as
a result of his daring raids. One day I received a letter from Joseph
Brown Bryan,III,who was then a writer on the staff of the Saturday Evening
Post. He stated that the Post wanted to run a series of articles on Admiral
Halsey and Bryan also said that he would like to come to Noumea and spend
a couple of weeks and assemble background material as he had been selected
to write the profile. I showed the letter to Admiral Halsey, and he said,
"His father is editor of a Richmond newspaper and an old friend of mine.
Tell him to come on down." He did come and he spent two weeks in Admiral
Halsey's quarters. Since I had then been with Admiral Halsey for five
years, I spent a number of hours with Joe giving him my comments. Admiral
Halsey had said many times that when he left the Navy he was going to write
a book in which he would do his utmost to vindicate Admiral Kimmel. After
retirement with five stars, he did just that and called on Joe Bryan to
co-author his autobiography, Admiral Halsey's Story.
During the two months preceding the evacuation of Guadalcanal by the
Japanese, the starving troops were being supplied by submarines. New
Zealand had assigned two or three small corvettes to the forward area
operating out of Tulagi which was just across the strait from Guadalcanal.
One of those corvettes on a night patrol spotted a submarine while unloading
at Lunga Point--that's the northernmost point on Guadalcanal--and engaged
at close range. It then chased the sub and rammed it amidship. When I
was in Guadalcanal after the evacuation, the submarine was beached with its
bow high out of the water. Also, when the Japs were evacuated they had
left behind their firearms. I saw a stack of rifles about two stories
high that had been collected. It was near the middle of February of '43
when General Patch sent Admiral Halsey a dispatch telling him of the evacua
tion and stating, "Guadalcanal was no longer a terminus for the Tokyo
Express."
It was time now to think of our next move--a series of amphibious
operations up the slot--objective Raboul. Although the Tokyo Express had
been stopped, the Japanese had not given up on employing aircraft against
our surface forces in the forward area. They had built an airfield on
Ballale and on Treasury Islands and were building another at Munda on New
Georgia Island farther south in order to permit their fighter planes with
their shorter range to escort the heavy bombers based on Rabaul against
our forces in the Canalu. Previously the bombers had had to come down
unescorted. That is why we were able to control the air during the day
and they moved only at night. Our next move was to be an amphibious operation
under the command of Rear Admiral Kelly Turner with the mission of
occupying Munda Airfield. It would be a bloody affair as we shall see
later.
The Solomon Islands were British owned. The British government had
kept an agent on Guadalcanal all during the campaign, but I doubt if anyone
in Halsey's headquarters was aware of his presence as he had been keeping
a very low profile. After the evacuation by the Nips, a letter appeared
one day on my desk. On the envelope outside was a printed inscription,
"On His Majesty's Service.u" The letter was written by the British agent on
Guadalcanal. It pointed out that Henderson Field had once been a lush
grove of coconut trees. The copra obtained from those trees were a principal
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source of income for the natives and some thousands of coconut trees had
been cut down on Guadalcanal. He mentioned the specific number which I
do not recall. On behalf of His Majesty's government he was now requesting
payment of $2.00 per coconut tree from the U.uS. Government. He neglected
to mention that the Japs had built Henderson Field in the first place. Of
all the unmitigated gall, I've never heard! I filed the letter and it was
never answered. I wish now that I had saved it as a souvenir.
Another message was received about this time from a high ranking officer
in the Royal New Zealand Air Force. He was Air Commodore Goddard and
he was a British subject. The letter stated that he would like to come to
Noumea for consultation. A reply was sent inviting him to come. He
shared quarters with Admiral Halsey. New Zealand had assigned a brigade
of infantrymen under SOPAC command when Admiral Ghormley was COMSOPAC.
They were based at Plaines des Guiques. It was in the northern end of New
Caledonia and was put there as a defensive force for the island. No aircraft,
however, had been assigned at that time.
In anticipation of Goddard's visit it was felt that we might now expect
to get some air support from New Zealand which was so desperately needed.
After he had been around SOPAC headquarters for a couple of days, he came
in to see me. During the expansion of SOPAC's staff my group had been
rroved out of the main headquarters building and was then occupying a Quonset
hut close by. Our first discussion centered around the prospect of air
reinforcements for SOPAC by the New Zealand Air Force for the forthcoming
amphibious operations to take Munda Air Field and New Georgia. That
operation was delayed due to shortage of forces but finally came off in
July of 1943. Munda had to be taken before it became operational for Jap
fighter aircraft. We had too few fighter planes to be able to counter
their bombers if escorted by fighter aircraft. I soon learned that we
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could expect no help for Air Sols (Air Solomons--Admiral Fitch's command)
from the New Zealand Air Force for that operation. The Royal New Zealand
Air Force did, however, send air units to SOPAC for the Bougainville
amphibious operation which took place about two months after Munda had been
secured.
The principal purpose of the visit of Air Commodore Goddard was to
get Admiral Halsey to recommend that the United States construct aircraft
overhaul bases in New Zealand for the purpose of overhauling Air Sols'
planes and engines there instead of sending them back to the U.uS. Naturally,
any such construction would be taken over later by the New Zealand
Air Force after the war was over. Air Comrrodore Goddard was a good longrange
planner from the viewpoint of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, but
his pet project received no support from COMSOPAC.
[It would have taken quite a while to build the type of facility he was
proposing, wouldn't it?]
Yes, indeed. It would have been just a boondoggle from the word
"go." That was the only purpose of his visit, and he got short shrift
from me when he came in with that proposal as I suppose he did before he'd
gotten around to see me.
. It was in Aprilu., '43 when Admiral Halsey learned from decoded dispatches
that Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the combined Japanese Imperial
fleet with headquarters on Truk, would make an inspection trip to Treasury
Island just south of Bougainville Island. It was one of the new bases
being built for their fighter aircraft. The time of Yamamoto's arrival at
Treasury Island was given in the decoded dispatch. From previous knowledge
of his rrovements, he could be expected to land at the exact time stated.
Admiral Halsey sent a dispatch to Admiral Nimitz with an information copy
to Admiral King. It said in effect, "Shall I get him or would the risk of
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compromising our intelligence sources be unacceptable?" The answer came
back, "Get him. There's only one Yamamoto."
The job was turned over to Admiral Fitch COMAIRSOPAC. In the original
attack plan, six lightnings led by Captain Tom Lanphiet were to go in at
low altitude and the remainder of the squadron of 12 planes were to provide
high cover, led by the squadron commander--a major. Mechanical trouble
prior to take-off reduced the attack group to about three planes. The
attack was made on two bombers by Captain Lanphier and his wing man. Two
zeroes were also shot down and a third bomber was sighted some distance
away from the first two and it was shot down. All of our planes returned
safely. After the war when I was on duty in Washington, I had an opportunity
to meet and talk with Tom Lanphier, who was a vice president of the
General Dynamics Corporation.
The credit for shooting down Yamarr.oto has been given in history to
Captain Tom Lanphier, U.uS. Air Corps. However, in a letter written by
the squadron commander who was in overall command of the flight, and
recently published in The Retired Officer, a magazine put out by the
Retired Officers Association, he stated that he was an eye witness to the
action and that no one knows who shot down Yamamoto because no one knows
which one of three bombers Yamarroto was in. He gives credit for two of
the three bombers shot down to Tom Lanphier' s wing man.
After SOPAC conferences in Washington, the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved
the plan for the conduct of two simultaneous amphibious operations. One
operation would be a northern advance of the forces under General MacArthur
in the Southwest Pacific up the west coast of New Guinea, and the other
operation would be under Admiral Halsey northward in the Solomons. It
was to be a pincer rrovement. The ultimate objective was to take the large
base at Raboul on New Ireland. An extra carrier air group had been
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previously assigned to SOPAC to spearhead that operation for him and was
based at a newly constructed airfield at Nandi in the Fiji Islands. Just
before the operation was to come off, a dispatch was received directing
that the Nandi air group, which had not yet seen action, be returned to
the United States. There the group would be broken up and the pilots
ordered to the training command as instructors. It was a serious blow to
our projected Munda operation in New Georgia. When the dispatch was shown
to Admiral Halsey, I was present; and a staff officer remarked to the
Admiral, "If they do that to us, we will have to goon the defensive."
With that Admiral Halsey's eyes blazed and I will never forget his reply,
"As long as I have one plane and one pilot, I will stay on the offensive."
Without that spirit Guadalcanal would have been lost and probably the South
and Southwest Pacific areas as well. It probably would have taken several
years longer to recover Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and the other
islands if they were occupied, and perhaps a negotiated peace would have
resulted before we could have ever rrounted an attack across the Central
Pacific against Japan as called for in the basic plan, "Rainbow 5." This,
of course,uis only speculation; but since it was Guadalcanal that was the
vital turning point, it could well have happened. Remember we outlasted
them by only 24 hours, and they had ample means to do the job if they had
thrown all their forces in as Halsey did.
For some time Admiral Halsey had been ready to go and was champing at
the bit because of the delay in the Southwest Pacific. General MacArthur
was not yet ready because his amphibious force under Rear Admiral Dan
Barbey ("Uncle Dan" as we called him) was not yet ready. Finally in June
it was "All Systems Go." COMSOPAC's first amphibious operation had as its
objective the capture of Munda Airfield in New Georgia. Rear Admiral
Richmond Kelly Turner, a former war plans officer in the office of the
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Chief of Naval Operations, was in charge of the amphibious landing. In
the planning and execution of amphibious operations, he was without peer.
He was a brilliant officer who graduated number five in his class at the
Naval Academy consisting of 201 graduates. He continued to direct our
amphibious operations throughout the war, even though he had already then
suffered a heart attack. He retired as a four-star admiral after the war
was over.
The landing force was composed of an Army infantry division illl.der
Major General Hester, backed up by the Second Marine Air Wing under Major
General Pat Mulcahey plus miscellaneous units based on Guadalcanal. I
requested permission from Admiral Halsey to be given temporary duty assigned
to General Mulcarey�'s staff, which would go in with the Army Rangers. Planes and
was arranged that Major General Harmon's aide, Captain Ball, would go with
me. General Harmon had administrative control over all Army forces in the
South Pacific under Halsey. Captain Ball outfitted me with suitable Army
gear and clothing. He also came up with a camouflaged hammock complete
with mosquito netting, zippers, and a canopy top to keep us dry. After
the muddy foxholes on the "Canal" we thought this would be luxury indeed.
We were in for a surprise.
A�few days before the sortieu, we went up to Guadalcanal and Admiral
Turner invited us to attend the briefings that were being held. They were
in great detail. He had previously sent in, by submarine, two Army officers
to reconnoiter New Georgia and Rendova Islands. I was present at their
briefings when they returned. The strategy was to occupy Rendova Island
originallyu, which was only lightly held and only about one mile from New
Georgia across Blanche Strait and then to ferry the troops across to New
Georgia for the assault on Munda Airfield. Heavy artillery consisting of
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105mm ??ms were to be set up on Rendova for the "softening" up processu,
but that word would prove to be a misnomer. Admiral Halsey had assembled
every combatant ship under his command that was still operable to cover
the landing. Unlike the Japs who did things piecemealu, he was accustomed
to employing everything at his disposal when engaged in combat.
Captain Ball and I were embarked on the U.uS. s. MCCAWLEYu, which was
Admiral Turner's flagship. Incidentally, that ship was the former Grace
Liner Santa Barbara in which I had returned from Panama when my duty was
completed at Coco Solo in 1934. About 4 a.m. on the morning of "D-Day/'
we were awakened by the familiar boatswain's pipe followed by the words,
"Stand by to embark the landing force." The procedure was orderly and it
went off without a hitch.
By the time General Mu1cabEy' and his staff were put ashoreu, the Army
Rangers had cleared the beaches and driven the Japs back into the jungle
on Rendova Island. As we walked ashore, nwnerous Jap bodies were seen
lying at the foot of palm trees. They were t??e snipers who had climbed
up the palm trees, but their sniping was short-lived. We trekked along
the shoreline in mud six or eight inches deep until we came to an area of
high ground a few hundred yards from the beach. General Mulcahey stopped
and said, "We dig in here." For several hours, we dug with our little
picks and shovels. After a few hours of digging, the Army moved a
battery of 105mm guns into a coconut grove directly in front of us.
General "Pat" Mulcahey took one look and said, "We will move on." Had
we stayed, we would have been in the direct line of fire from the Japanese
counter-batteries. We slogged on for about a mile or so and then stopped.
There wasn't much high ground here, but there were palm trees. Tom and
I broke out our ha.mrrocks and proceeded to swing them between the palmsu.
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We felt pretty clever when we saw everyone else having to dig in all
over again and to sleep in mudholes.
After dark, we turned into our hamrnocks--well protected from the rain
and the mosquitos. We had not been asleep very long, when all hell broke
loose! Gunfire was cowing from all sides! Bullets were whizzing through
the trees, and we both knew we were in a precarious situation but dared not
make a move for fear of attracting gunfire. Shots were being fired in the
direction of any sound. The firing continued all during the night. At
daylight, we crawled out to survey the situation. During the night the
Japs had driven cattle through our lines and our own forces had been doing
all the shooting. 'Ihat day an order was issued to the effect that there
would be no more shooting at night. Knives would be used instead. That
day too, Tom Ball and I began looking for a nearby ravine. When we found
it, we began excavating into the side of the bank. We dug until we had
holes large enough to protect a body. Those hammocks were not used again.
The only threat to the ships on D-Day came from air attacks. Fortunately
there was an overcast at low altitude. Overhead we could hear the fighter
planes engaged in dogfights. Our fighters came up the slot from Guadalcanal
on their bellytanks which they would drop before engaging in aerial combat
with the Japanese Zeros and bombersu. When you saw one falling you dove for
cover not knowing whether it was a bomb or not. On the second day, about
forty of us were lined up for the noon meal when suddenly one was seen coming
down nearby. All hands dived for the waist-high trench which had been dug
in the event of a bombing attack while in the chow line.
While our forces were being ferried across the Strait from Rendova to
New Georgia, the Japs were reinforcing their forces on Munda by landing
from destroyers on Vella Lavella Island nearby during the night and ferrying
the troops over to New Georgia. As a result, Admiral Halsey sent cruisers
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and destroyers night after night up the slot to engage them. Thus, the
battle for Munda was fought on the land, in the air, and on the sea. The
Pt boats also operated at night against the Jap vessels bringing in reinforcements.
They would hole up during daytime seeking cover near the shoreline
and use camouflage to hide their presence from Jap pilots overhead.
One morning I noted that a Pt boat was aground just across the Strait,
close to terrain then occupied by the Japs on New Georgia Island. I walked
down to the beach and saw the crew who had swum ashore to Rendova at daylight.
I talked to the skipper--I believe he was Lt. Kelly but can't be
sure of his name now. He told me that he had forgotten to bring off his
codebook and was going to swim back and get it. Up to that time the Japs
had not fired on the boat. I went back and reported the situation to General
Mulcahey and he said that he would ask the Army to provide counter-battery
if the Japs opened up on him. The skipper swam out and returned with the
codebook unmolested. It was an act of great bravery on his parto
One day the Australian coast-watcher, who had been dodging the Japs
on Rendova Island, came into camp with a native guide and called on General
Mulcahey. No one appreciated the wonderful contribution of the coastwatchers
more than the aviators. After their talk,. General Mulcahey dug
into his knapsack and pulled out a bottle of bourbon whiskey and gave it to
the coast-watcher. I doubt if a bottle of bourbon had ever been appreciated
more.
It was customary for the division commander to ferry over from Rendova
to New Georgia at about 0800 each morning. One day I asked permission to
accompany him on his daily rounds. It was given and at that same time he
asked me if I would take a sword, which had belonged to a slain Japanese
officer, back to Admiral Halsey as a gift when I returned. It was done.
On New Georgia we proceeded first.to the regimental command post and then
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on up to the company command post. We moved through the jungle as a group,
because there were snipers still in the rear and for a person to proceed
alone or in pairs was courting disaster. A sniper would not fire on a
group, because he knew that even if he got one or two of them, others would
get him in the process. We saw grim examples of the snipers' work as we
walked along. Near the company command post a heavy fire fight was in progress.
To me it seemed that everyone on both sides was shooting their rifles,
but no one could see what they were shooting at. The jungle was literally
covered with pillboxes overlaid with coconut palms and heavily camouflaged
with foliage. The most effective weapons that were being employed against
them were small Marine Corp tanks equipped with flame-throwers that moved
back and forth literally burning out the jungle and throwing flames into
the entrances of the pillboxes and dugouts when located. It was a scorchedearth
policy. It took a scorched-earth policy to finally take Munda airfield,
although our troops were only a few hundred yards from the field
when it began.
Back on Rendova an LST had anchored in the lagoon and about 200 men
were in line waiting their turn at a clearance station before embarking.
I inquired the meaning and was told that those men were being evacuated as
casualties. Most were psychological cases, I later learned. Many were
being evacuated after only one or two days of fighting. Few appeared to
be wounded.
A few days later I noticed a seaplane was circling for a landing in
the lagoon, which was close by to our campsite. I walked down to meet it
and to see what was going on. It taxied in fairly close to the beach
and out stepped Major General O. W. Griswald, USA, and three or four members
of his staff. They all looked grim and they asked for directions to General
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Hester's headquartersu. Admiral Halsey had sent him to take command of
the division of troops that had bogged down in the jungle fighting.
When the time came to return to Noumea, a small amphibious plane
was sent to take me off. The pilot, Commander Jack Greenslade, USN, was
an old friend and we had been members of the Naval Academy wrestling
team together. On the return flight, we landed on an airfield on a small
island south of New Georgia which Marines had occupied only ten days
before we landed there. Ours was the first plane to land on the field.
In those ten daysu, the Navy Seabees had almost completed an airstrip
carved out of the jungle. When we circled for a landing, the men working
on the field took to the trenches, alongside, with their weapons until
they saw clearly the markings on our aircraft. The Seabees had been
fighting off hostile aircraft with small arms as they continued to build
the strip.
Back in Noumea, Admiral Halsey at his news conference called on me
for a complete report of what I had seen while in New Georgia. I ended
up by saying that in my opinion, the jungle fighting was so rough that
another division would have to be sent in in order to complete the job.
Admiral Halsey said that the other division which he had under his command
was being saved for the next amphibious operation projected against
Bougainville. He ended up, however, by sending in two more divisions
before Munda was finally occupied. The timetable called for Munda to be
occupied within a week. It finally took six weeks and then only after
our forces outnumbered the Japs by more than five to one. It took more
than 36,000 troops to dislodge some 7,000 Japs--jungle fighting being
what it wasu.
Before I left Noumea for the New Georgia operation, Bob Montgomery
and Gene Markey, who had been living with us at Havoc Hall, had been
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ordered to return to "Uncle Sugar." They departed together on a troop
transport from Noumea. Upon my return, there was a long letter from Bob
telling of their trip home .. The ship carried a number of casualties as
well as men and officers being relieved in SOPAC. Bob and Gene played
a little game by posing as a couple of shell-shocked veterans throughout
the return trip. They liked to play poker and were invited to join a
groupo It seemed that they cleaned up enroute. Bob went on to say that
he was beginning to feel sorry for Gene since there would be no one on
the dock in San Francisco to meet him. Bob's wife, Dixie, and their
children planned to be on hand. When they docked, Dixie and the children
were no-shows and all of Gene's three former wives were there to greet
him. What a man! After the war, I met him with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.,
at the embassy club in London. We had lunch together. Gene was then
writing a book at a small Irish village. He has since married Warren Wright's
widow who owns : Calumet Farms and lives in Kentucky. Bob Montgomery
became advisor to President Eisenhower for the purpose of improving his
speech-making ability on TV.
After New Georgia, Admiral Halsey felt that I had been on his staff
long enough--perhaps too long for the good of my own career. He asked
me to recommend my relief before being ordered back to U. s. for assignment.
Realizing that Admiral Halsey would probably go to a major sea
command after SOPAC, I felt that my relief should be a naval aviator with
carrier experience. However, as far as SOPAC command was concerned, my
assistant air operation officer, Colonel Hank Everest, US Air Corp, was
the logical choice. I decided to recommend Commander Horace D. Moulton,
USNR, Class of 1931 Naval Academy, who was then serving as Admiral
Halsey'su.flag secretary. That recommendation was accepted. That posed a
question of who should relieve Doug Moulton as Admiral Halsey's flag secretary.
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One afternoon after working hours, Doug Moulton and I were sitting
in the office of the staff duty officer in S0PAC's headquarters discussing
the prospects for his relief. I had the staff duty that day. A messenger
came in and said that there was an officer outside who requested to see
the staff duty officer. A lieutenant commander came in and handed me his
orders. It seems that he had arrived after the S0PAC personnel office
was closed and, therefore, had come to see S0PAC's_staff duty officer to
report in. I read the orders directing him to report to C0MS0PAC for
further assignment. Had he reported to the personnel officer, he would
undoubtedly have been sent forward to some island base as a matter of
routine. That officer's name was Harold Stassen. I irmnediately recognized
the narre of the man who had been the youngest governor of Minnesota
and the keynote speaker of the Republican National Convention in 1940.
After reading the orders, I handed them to Doug Moulton without a word
but with a raised eyebrow. He read the orders and nodded. I asked
Lieutenant Commander Stassen if he had any place to stay for the night.
He said, "No.u" So I invited him to stay with me at Havoc Hall. That
evening our group gathered around the bar for cocktails and around the
piano for singing favorite songs, as usual. Stassen, however, was aloof
and reserved and did not seem to be able to enter into the spirit of the
occasion as was the case with our other visitors. If I ever saw a man
who had stars in his eyes, it was Harold Stassen. Apparently he has
never lost them, for he has recently announced that he would be running
again for president of the United States in 1980. That must be his sixth
time. I sounded him out on the flag secretary job and he fairly leaped
at the suggestion.
The next morning I went in to see Admiral Halsey and told him that
I had located an officer whom I thoug}:t, would make him a good aide and flag
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secretary. When I told him who it was, he said, "I'll take him. Show
him in." Stassen was waiting in the wings. I took him in and introduced
him to Admiral Halsey. Lieutenant Corrmander Stassen stayed on as Admiral
Halsey's flag secretary until the end of the war. He then held the rank
of captain. At war's end, Halsey assigned him as deputy to Rear Admiral
Roger Simpson, who was in charge of the location and evacuation of all
prisoners-of-war held by the Japanese. Stassen was later appointed by
the president to the committee which drew up the charter of the United
Nations along with Alger Hiss, who it seems was the principal architect
of the charter. I did not see Harold Stassen again until some years after
the war. I met him on the streets of Washington, D. c.
, and we stopped
and had a chat. I always had a hunch that when he elected to report to
COMSOPAC's staff duty officer rather than the personnel officer in Noumea
that there was a purpose behind his move.
Shortly thereafter, I was relieved and scheduled for departure by
plane in August of 1943 for "Uncle Sugar" and another assignment. Admiral
Halsey invited me to dine with him in his headquarters the night before
I was to leave. After cocktails and dinner, he asked me to come into
his office, selected a photograph of himself and wrote the following
inscription on it: "To Bill Ashford. For six years in peace and war
we served together. My heartfelt thanks for your loyal and efficient
service. Good luck, and God bless you. W. F. Halsey." We had been
through too much together to reminisce, so I thanked him and took my
leave.
The next day I was winging my way towards Pearl and the United
States with orders to report to Corrmander of the Operational Training
Command at Jacksonville, Florida. Sometime after I returned to the United
States, I received a long hand-written letter from Admiral Halsey filling
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me in on what had transpired in SOPAC since I left. As I recall, it was
just before the Bougainville operation had begunu. In that letter he
stated, "Bill, let no one ever tell you differently. It was in the South
Pacific where we broke their backsu." These oral interviews are made
primarily in the hope that the close association I had with this great
leader as his aide and staff member covering a period of six years and
changes in rank from four stripes to four stars will provide some new
insight into the personality and character of one of our nation's
greatest naval officers and fighting men. By special act of Congress,
a grateful-nation awarded him a fifth star making him a fleet admiral.
Those stars shone brightly then and their brilliance increases with time.
[You mentioned Solomons awhile ago. Pug Ainsworth was commander of
destroyer squadrons in the Eastern Solomons. Did you ever have any contact
with him?]
He attended our daily conferences when his flagship was in port. I
never have had any personal contact with him. When they relieved Kincaid
after Halsey had given him the job of establishing a task force to conduct
intensive night operations with available surface forces to offset the
knowledge, the technique and the expertise of the Japs, Ainsworth was left
holding the bag on that deal. He never had a chance to do what Kincaid had
set out to do. I don't think his operations were as effective as some of
the others that took place down there. He was known as "Pug" and as a
fighting man. I have very little knowledge of the specifics of his operations
because he was up the slot and I was in Noumea. I'm sure it's well recorded
by Morison. All these battles are. Morison was a man with a nautical background,
a sailor man. He had a great knowledge of strategy. He didn't
hesitate to comment on it any time. He knew Naval strategy.
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I returned to the U.uS. via Pan American Airlines which the Navy had
taken over. It was an unusual arrangement. All personnel, equipment and
facilities were placed at the disposal of the Armed Services and the
Airlines operated just as they did in peacetime. I took my orders to the
airline ticket office in Noumea and they issued me a ticket.
[How did you view your return to the United States at that point in
the war? Were you anxious to get back stateside to your family?]
Naturally, I wanted to see my bride of a year, but more importantly,
I felt that I had to have a change of duty because six years as staff
officer is harmful to anybody's career. I also felt that the Navy made it
up to me because they gave me five major operational commands including
the U.uS. S. MIDWAY, which was then the world's largest naval vessel.
They also sent me to Naval War College and gave me an important job in the
Pentagon during my tour of duty there. I don't know how they could have
done any better for my career than to give me those assignments. I knew
I should get out of staff duty and I was anxious to go. I had done all I
could do and the time had come for me to move on. When I left the South
Pacific, I never saw Admiral Halsey again until after the war was over and
he had retired as a fleet admiral with five stars.
I had been given about two weeks leave before reporting to the Commander
of Operations Training, Rear Admiral Andrew Calhoun McFall, USN, Jacksonville,
Florida. I headed for Merion, Pennsylvania, my wife Bette's home. She had
been alerted of my time of arrival and she had given up a job as assistant
art director with Mademoiselle magazine in New York City, and was at the
airport to meet me. We stayed a few days with her parents. During that
time I made a call on the head of the ration bureau of the county in which
Marion is located. I needed wheels badly and after telling the head of the
ration bureau of my need and where I'd been, they gave me the last car they
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had. That was in July of 1943. It was a 1942 Chevrolet and I kept it for
15 years. They made good cars in those days.
Bette and I packed up and headed south, stopping at Virginia Beach-our
old stomping ground where we met at the Cavalier--to spend a couple of
days with our old friends, the Herbert Lees. Then we went on to Georgia
to spend a couple of days visiting with my father, who was living in the
Ashford Compound. It consists of three houses in which the Ashfords lived
and a church in Watkinsville, Georgia, which had been donated by the family
to the cornrmmity. I introduced Bette to my numerous relatives. Some of
the Ashford family had lived for 140 years in that area. Bette was bewildered
after seeing the turnout and said that she never knew that anybody in the
world had so many relatives in one place as I had.
Upon our arrival at Jacksonville, we were temporarily assigned a set
of quarters on the Naval Air Station awaiting some reorganization plan that
was taking place concerning my duties and responsibilities at Lee Field.
Officially it was known as the Naval Auxiliary Air Station, Green Cove
Springs, Florida. It was an auxiliary to the Naval Air Station at
Jacksonville in so far as staff facilities, engineering, logistics, support,
and supply were involved. I didn't know what was cooking then, but I was
soon to find out. Lee Field was then a divided command. It was in three
parts. The commanding officer, an aviator whose only flying experience
consisted of being an instructor in primary training, reported to the comrrEnder
of the Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida. His rank was that of
commander in the Naval Reserve and he was junior to the commanders of the
training units. There were two fighter training units, of some hundred
planes each, headed by commanders who were aviators in the regular Navy and
who had had previous fighter plane operation experience on carriers. They
each reported to the training officer on the staff of Commander of Operational
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Training, Admiral McFall. The senior of the two acted as,coordinator for
the two units, so the commanding officer was acting merely as a caretaker.
The admiral decided that organizational changes would have to be made when
he decided to make me the corr.manding officer. I was senior to the two training
officers. I had to cool my heels until the details were worked out.
While cooling my heels at NAS, Jacksonville, and not understanding the
cause of the delay, Bette and I were having dinner one night at the officer's
club. While we were there, an officer came up to us and asked if we were
Commander and Mrs. Ashford. He introduced himself as Lieutenant Commander
Mark Matheson, executive officer at Lee Field. His wife, Pride, was with
him and we invited them to join us for dinner. This was my first contact
with anyone on duty there. That meeting was the beginning of a life-long
friendship between the four of us. Mark's knowledge of the conditions at
Lee Field, his loyalty to me, and his outstanding qualifications proved to
be of inestimable value to me during the time that I was in command at Lee
Field.
After waiting for two or three weeks, my orders as commanding officer
NAAS Green Cove Springs, Florida, were finally cut and I took over. These
orders called for only one corr.mand, and I was in complete charge of everything.
That change apparently didn't set too well with some as I was soon
to learn. Lee Field was the largest fighter training base in the Navy in
terms of numbers of students and numbers of aircraft. At one time I had
about 320 operational aircraft and 550 student aviators who had just completed
primary training at Pensacola and were making the transition to the
hottest fighter planes the Navy had--the Chance Vought Corsair and the
Grumman Hellcat. It was quite a jump for any aviator. At the time that I
took over, Lee Field had held the unenviable record of having the highest
casualty rate arrong students of any of the seventeen Naval Air Stations in
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Admiral McFall's Operational Training Command. Most of his bases were
located in Florida, but long-range four-engine patrol seaplanes were based
at Corpus Christi, and four-engine land planes were based at the Naval Air
Station, Olathe, Kansas. In addition to the seventeen operations training
bases, he had two training carriers on Lake Michigan based at Chicago which
were used to qualify all the pilots slated for carriers in the fleet.
The reservation encompassing Lee Field consisted of about 8,000 acres
and the station's complement was 2800 excluding the students. There was
a Marine detachment for security and a Coast Guard unit which trained and
looked after the wa tchdog,s accompanying the Marine sentries patrolling the
perimeter of the base at night. That was the sole function of the Coast
Guard detachment. The area in which the dogs were kept was isolated and
off limits for other personnel. In addition to Lee Field there were four
smaller outlying fields manned by Air Station crews that were used for
practice carrier landings and gunnery training. They were under my control.
We also had a small navy of high-speed crash boats--forty-foot--and some
Higgins personnel boats and a few sailboats for recreation. There were four
sets of married officers quarters on the stationu. They were occupied by
the comnanding officer, the executive officer, the senior medical officer,
and the senior training officer. Those quarters were located along the St.
Johns River, a short distance from Lee Field. The bachelor officers quarters
were located nearby. Other married officers lived in the nearby town of
Green Cove Springs for the most part. We. were centrally located between
Jacksonville and St. Augustine, and there was no public transportation. So
much for the physical layout.
Incidentally, virtually all emphasis was on training, and I was authorized
to call on the commanding officer at the Naval Air Station at
Jacksonville for logistics support such as public works and construction
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projects as required. The commanding officers at NAS Jacksonville while
I was there were Captain Arthur Gavin, "Art", and Walton W. Smith. They
never denied a request which I made, even to the extent of building a road
over a swamp in order to get out a plane and pilot which had crashed and
sunk out of sight into the swampu.
After reading my orders at the change of command ceremony, I made an
inspection of the headquarters building and met the people with whom I would
be working closely. The building was of two-story frame construction. When
I went topside (upstairs) ??n the area directly over my office, I found a
bar with tables and chairs for use by chief petty officers only. There
were no rules governing the hours, and the bar was in use both day and
night. They served beer. My first order was to close the bar down and
have the equipment moved out of the building. While it soon became evident
that there was a dire need for expansion of recreational facilities, the
idea of permitting a beer bar to exist over the commanding officer's office
with beer-drinking taking place by enlisted personnel during working hours
to me was preposterous. Steps had to be taken to improve and correct the
recreational facilities.
Within a few days after I took command, a human body was found floating
in the St. John River bordering the station. The body was identified as
that of an enlisted man attached to my command. I ordered a board of
investigation to determine the facts of his death and to report them to
me. It turned out that the man had been dead for about four days and had
not been reported missing. The reason for that was that daily musters,
called for by Navy regulations, were not being held. That situation was
changed promptly. Thereafter morning musters were held by all units and
unauthorized absentees reported to me, and the men were brought before my
mast.
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The major concern by Rear Admiral McFall about Lee Field was the
excessively high casualty rate among student pilots. It was also my major
and most irmnediate concern. As a normal procedure when a crash or major
casualty occurred to an aircraft, a trouble board consisting of three
officers met and investigated the crash or casualty. In the case of a
death, generally, it was a board of investigation or it could be a board of
inquiry. The trouble board was required to determine, as best they could,
causes of the accident by assigning percentages for each element involved
such as pilot error, mechanical error, weather, unknown, etc. The total
of the percentages had to add up to 100%. In some cases when the facts
were obscure, a board of investigation would be held which could hold formal
hearings and take testimony under oath. In addition to the above procedure,
I took it upon myself to go to the scene of every crash and form my own
opinion.
It soon became evident that something should be done to improve the
casualty rate. For example: if a pilot took off to the south on night
operations, there were no lights visible to him immediately after clearing
the runway which would permit him to orient his position with respect to
the horizon, unless perhaps there was moonlight. As a consequence, I
learned that a number of fatalities had occurred shortly after take-off
on the south runway on dark nights. There was a mile-long bridge crossing
the St. Johns River some distance from the end of the north-south runway,
but the bridge was without lights. I went to the person in the state
transportation department who was in charge of that area and explained the
situation. He readily agreed to the need of some lights for the bridge
and had them installed without delay. In addition to reducing the casualty
rate, it boosted the morale of the pilots.
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The most difficult task that I had to face during the fourteen months
that I commanded Lee Field was writing letters to the parents of those fine
young men who lost their lives in our fighter aircraft. Hardly a week went
by that I was not faced with the task of writing one or more letters of
condolence. It left me more determined than ever to do something to reduce
the casualty rate. I enrolled in the ground school course and made it a
point to check out every type of plane within the command. Student pilots
would normally spend one half day in ground school and the other half of
the day flying, provided that sufficient planes were in operation and
that the student load was not excessive. After taking the ground school
course and reading the instruction manual covering the Vought Corsair
fighter, I required that certain portions be rewritten--for example: a long
list of "don'ts" covering the flying technique were listed ending up with
a statement to the effect that the plane is a monster and if you forget the
"don'ts,u" it will surely kill you. That portion was eliminated and a
positive approach rather than a negative approach was substituted.
At this point, I might break in with an actual story about the
functions of the trouble board in determining 100% of the accidents that
actually took place. I had a good friend who was an ensign in the U.uS.
Naval Reserve and an aviator and his name was Jerry Clark. He later became
vice-president of Curtiss-Wright Corporation. After. -leaving the Navy,-he
was invited to come to China to train pilots and develop over-haul facilities
at an airfield for General Chiang Kai-shek, who was then in control of
rrost of China. The casualty rate among the student pilots there was pretty
high, and he decided to institute the Navy's trouble board procedure in
the Chinese pilot training. He developed the forms, gave them the
instructions, appointed a board, and then waited to see the result of the
first investigation. The flying field itself was a very large one and
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completely cleared of all obstructions except one telephone pole which
supported a wire to the ground station. One day a Chinese aviator came
back in to land and instead of landing into the wind, he landed down-wind,
hit the telephone pole and then crashed. The trouble board met. He
waited and waited. Finally the report came through--the causes of the
accident were: (1) the telephone pole was too high, and (2) the wind was
in the wrong direction. That was the way the Chinese had of saving face.
After finishing the ground school course and checking out in each
type of aircraft, I enrolled in the instrument course which was part of the
curriculum. We didn't have the artificial horizon with a picture of a
miniature plane imposed on the dashboard at that time, but we used only the
ball and needle and compass. Instrument flying with the latter equipment
took a lot of expertise and practice, particularly if you were going to make
an instrument takeoff.
Reports began to come in from the fleet that the Corsair was experiencigg
bounce problems when landing on the carriersu. The department had reported
the matter to Chance Vought, and we received word that the company was sending
its expert consultant to Lee Field to conduct experiments with simulated
carrier landings in order to find a remedy. The expert consultant was
Charles Augustus Lindbergh. As you may recall, he resigned his commission
after having been criticized by President Roosevelt for his attitude of
neutrality toward the war in his testimony before Congress in the Lend-
Lease Act. At that time he was working for Chance Vought as a civilian
consultant. He arrived on Sunday afternoon flying a Vought Corsair, as I
recall. I was at the field to meet him upon arrival, and I took him to
our bachelor officers quarters, which were located next to my quarters,
and got him settled. My wife, Bette, and I had begun the custom of inviting
a few of the station officers and their wives to informal suppers on Sunday
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night at my quarters. I invited Lindbergh to join us that evening and he
accepted. Our good friends, Mark and Pride Matheson, who lived in the
quarters next to mine, were generally on hand to help us entertain. When
Lindbergh arrived, most of the guests were already there. I introduced him
to everyone, and we sat down to make small talk. It was soon apparent that
he did not feel at ease in that gathering, so I suggested that he come with
me in the kitchen and help me with the salad which I usually made. He did
so and I put an apron around his neck and put him to work. When he came
out with the finished job, he seemed like a different person. He and Bette
began a lively conversation on art. As I recall, his wife, Anne, was an
amateur artist or at least had an interest in art as did Lindbergh. The
ice had been broken and everything went along well for the duration of his
stay which was for about four weeks. He would go out to one of the outlying
fields each day and observe simulated carrier landings being made in an
area marked off to represent the flight deck and resting gear area of a
carrier. The bounce problem was determined to be caused by the pressure
in the landing gear struts. After many landings the optinrum pressure was
determined and the difficulty was eliminated aboard the carriers. That
fix also simplified field carrier landings of the Corsair by reducing the
bounce on bad landings. I recall an instance when observing student
landings at Lee Field when a Corsair bounced into the air and when the wheels
next touched the plane swerved sideways out of control and struck a concrete
structure adjacent to the runway used for housing the night landing
equipment. The plane flamed and machine guns began firing and the pilot
was incinerated within seconds before my eyes.
My secretary was a remarkable woman in her sixties. She was Mrsu. Hattie
Waggoner and a native of Green Cove Springs, Florida. Everyone knew her
only as Hattie Green Cove and she was admired by everyone who knew her.
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Her knowledge of the local politics as well as her remarkable intelligence
of what was happening at Lee Field was a great help to me in running a taut
ship. One day a bull was seen running around in the landing area on the
field. Someone in a jeep took off after the bull in an effort to run him
away. Lee Field covered a lot of territory. That fact coupled with the
exuberance of the driver of the jeep and the novelty of the chase resulted
in the bull dropping dead on our field. Finding the owner of the bull was
not long in forthcoming. When Hattie saw it, she said, "That's a Brahman
bull and it belongs to the sheriff of the county." The sheriff soon arrived
and a parley began. It seems the price of Brahman bulls is not cheap by any
standards, and regardless of the legal merits of the case I decided in the
interest of good public relations with the local law that it would be
advisable to make the best settlement that I could. Hattie was a big help,
and a deal was made that I considered fair. I don't remember just where
the money came from for paying the sheriff, but we dug it up anyway.
[Did you get to keep the beef?]
No, he took it. I became good friends with the sheriff. He cooperated
fully later on when we were trying to reduce the venereal disease rate by
running down the carriers. He also invited me to his dove shoots. Needless
to say the game laws were always broken and I only went once. He had
the fields baited and the shooting was excellent.
Another unpleasant episode of my tour at Lee Field was the fact that
I was ordered to serve for some time on a general court martial board, as
the senior member, which held continuous sessions at the Naval Air Station,
Jacksonville. The board's cases were composed almost entirely of flying
regulation violations by student pilots charged with "flat hatting." That
term was used to describe flying low over populated areas by exuberant
pilots seeking thrills. It was a very natural thing, and we all had done
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it in our time. To blemish the records of those fine young pilots, many
just out of high school, and many who would want the Navy as a career, was
not an easy thing to do. I was happy to be relieved of that onerous duty;
yet for reasons of safety to pilots and others as well as the hazard to
expensive aircraft, the regulations had to be strictly enforced. Feeling
as I did about protecting the records of the student pilots in my command,
I initiated a procedure whereby student pilots reporting into the station
would be brought into my office in groups of about twenty-five and I would
sound-off with my little sermon on the necessity of protecting one's service
reputation--one's service record--by his daily actions. How much good my
sermon did I never had any way of knowing.
By the grapevine, informtion began to reach me that resentment and
even roadblocks were occurring within the training units particularly from
the two commanders who were in charge and who had enjoyed free-wheeling
in their uncontested authority by not having to report to the commanding
officer of the station prior to my assuming command. I felt that a certain
amount of resentment was to be expected as a result of the radical change
in organization, but enough was enough.
Despite the efforts that I had been making to reduce the casualty rate,
too little progress had been made and I wasuworriedand dissatisfied with
the results. Something more had to be done, but I was at a loss as to just
what to do. One morning, early, I took off from Lee Field in a plane in
order to make an inspection of our four outlying training fields. One was
at St. Augustine, one at Palatka, and the other two at remote locations not
near any towns. After taking off, I circled the field gaining altitude
before taking my departure. I looked down and saw three crashed planes
on the runways or nearby. I landed immediately and proceeded to the
engineering office in the hanger. I asked to see the engine and plane log
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books of the crashed planes. Log books for every engine and every plane
with accessories are kept. They record time and date of repairs made,
maintenance performed and by whom as a matter of permanent record. After
making a survey of the situation, I directed that the field be closed to
all outgoing traffic and collected as many of the planes and engine log
books and records of the 20-hour maintenance checks which were performed
routinely as I could carry out and took them to my office. For several
hours I poured over the entries in the logs and 20-hour check forms. It
was standard procedure to give an engine check every 20 hours. The form
was used throughout the Navy and the signature of the person making the
check was required. All of our checks were made at night in order to increase
plane availability during the day. After several hours of researching
alone, I called Rear Admiral McFall, Commander of Operational Training,
that same afternoon and told him that Lee Field was closed and I proposed
to keep it closed until he could send a team down to investigate. At 0800
the next morning, six members of his staff appeared in my office. The group
was headed by a commander in the regular Navy who was an aviator and aeronautical
engineer and stood in the top four or five of his class. I turned
over to them the logbooks and check forms in my possession and offered all
possible help in their investigation. They spent a couple of days out at
the hanger checking planes and going over the records as part of their
investigation. The result of their investigation was a shocker! During
the night inspections, no officer was present. Only petty officers were in
charge. Planes were brought into the hangers and check forms were signed
off as having been fully inspected when as a matter of fact the proscribed
checks had not been made in many cases. The men would secure early and the
planes were moved back on the line certified ready for flight the next day.
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This report resulted in outright antagonism on the part of the two
Navy commanders in charge of my two training divisions. I realized then
that either they would have to be relieved or I would have to ask to be
relieved. The action which I took was to go to see the training officer
on the staff of Commander Operations Training Corrmand, then Captain Edgar
T. Neale. His nickname was "Greazy.u" I asked that the two corrmanders in
charge of training be detached from my command. I also asked that the
next senior officer in the training unit, who was a lieutenant commander
in charge of the safety program, be detached. His only question was who
would you get to replace them. I replied that for the time being I would
use the officers already in my command and mentioned two lieutenants who
had served in fighter squadrons on carriers. Their names were Lieutenant
Charles F. Moffat and Lieutenant Wilmer F. Rawie--"Will" we called him.
Although they would be filling corrmanders' billets, I felt that they could
do the job. Charles Moffat was the son of Rear Admiral Moffat, former
chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, who lost his life in the crash of the
dirigible Akron. I told "Greazy" that I intended to work with them as much
as I could particularly during night operations. Furthermore, I asked that
one commander with combat experience in a carrier-fighter squadron be ordered
when available to head up both units. I had someone in mind for the job
who had been in the South Pacific with me. It was Corrmander J.uC. Clifton-"
Jumping Joe" as he was known by all. Joe had been an air group commander
and had flown Corsairs in combat when I was Air Operations to COMSOPAC.
He had also been my friend at the U.uS. Naval Academy and a football great.
He was "gung-ho" and "can do" all the way. The detachment orders which I
had requested were forthcoming promptly and Charles and Will and I put our
hands to the plow to try and get things straightened out.
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Several months later Joe Clifton arrived in Jacksonville. My first
contact with him was when our cars passed on the road between Lee Field
and Jacksonville. I was headed for Jacksonville and he was headed for Lee
Field. We recognized each other in passing, stopped our cars, and got out
and had a chat on the roadside. The first thing he said to me was, "You
don't need to tell me a thing. I've been thor0u_ghly briefed and lmow what
your problems have been. I'm mighty glad to be here working with you."
Will Rawie and Charles Moffat had done an excellent job under trying conditions.
They were juniors to several officers in the training unit and the
detachment of the three senior officers in the training group had naturally
left some people, who had been loyal supporters, with their noses out of
joint. Nevertheless, with the improved aircraft maintenance that was initiated,
the casualty rate had shown a marked improvement and I was confident
that with Joe Clifton in the saddle, it would improve still more.
Joe was a leader of men and the best morale builder I've ever known, because
his enthusiasm was so contagious. He had a rough time getting through the
academy. In a class of 402 graduatesu, he stood 14 from the bottom of his
class. His approach was a positive one. When discussing an intricate
maneuver of dogfighting with his students, his approach would go like this:
"Now that is the way that it has to be done. Don't tell me that you can't
do it. Damn it to hell! I'm dumb and I can do it. So, if I can do it
you can. Now get up there and do your job.u" They ate it up and their
morale began to soar. From that point on I had no more problems with our
training program--no more qualms rather.
From that point on, I could find time to devote my energies toward
improving the recreation facilities and station morale in general. As I
mentioned earlier, the nearest extensive recreation facilities for both
officers and men were in Jacksonville and Saint Augustine. Both were about
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twenty-five miles distance and there was no commuter transportation in
existence. The greatest need, we felt, was to try and get all of our
personnel interested in some sport providing physical exercise. We were
fortunate to have as athletic director an outstanding reserve officer
named Hugh Ewing, Jr. He organized softball leagues in sufficient numbers
to include everyone on the station--male and female--student officers,
station officers, civilians, too, if they chose to play. Also bowling
leagues were organized. I participated in both. In addition, emphasis
was placed on developing a station team which competed with other stations
in the Operations Training Command as well as some Army base teams. Much
enthusiasm was generated and rivalry was particularly keen between Lee
Field and nearby Cecil Field which was an auxiliary air station in the same
category as Lee Field. At that station dive bombing and scout bombing
bomber training was conducted. The CO was a classmate and a friend of mine-Commander
Samuel G. Mitchell, "Pat,u" as he was knownu. The intense competition
between Lee and Cecil Fields was not limited to sports, but each command
was striving to make theirs the showplace of the Operational Training
Command. Pat and I were detached from our commands at about the same time
and each of us assumed command of a training carrier on Lake Michigan where
the rivalry became more intense than ever.
As soon as I was able to give it some thought, I called in my public
works officer and gave him a project of building a patio adjacent to the
ship's service store for use as a beer garden for all hands. It was
strictly regulated--the hours were--and profits would go to the ship's service
store for use of all personnel. Ship's service funds were to provide
a number of recreation projects designated to make for a "happy ship."
It was noted that garbage trucks from Saint Augustine were making daily
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visits for the collection of garbage from the general mess and the BOQ.
learned that a sizeable sum was being paid for the service. The thought
occurred to me that we ought to start a pig farm, using the garbage being
sold, save that money and have pig-picking barbecues for all hands. We
did just that by fencing in an area, buying two or three brood sows and a
boar, and letting nature take its course. In a short time the picnic area
which we had built along the river was crowded with personnel on weekends
and the barbecue pits were steaming with "shoat" cooking on the spi'ts and
draft beer flowing freely. Those picnics were for all hands and the general
mess made their contributions by providing the food equivalent of an evening
meal for the picnic. The families of the enlisted personnel were invited
and the venture was a great success. One thing which Lee Field had in abundance
was land. Some of it had been farmed before being taken over as part
of the reservation. One day I was talking to Mark Matheson, my exec, and
Hattie, my secretary, when another brainstorm developed. Since our pig
farm was such a success, why don't we use some of this farmland for truckfarming
and give the produce to the married enlisted personnel having to
live off the station in the outlying area vm.o are paying rent? Hattie said
that she knew of a colored man with a plow and a mule who was available.
So, our truckfarm was born. As produce came in season, corn, potatoes,
beans, watermelonsuand so forth, we erected a stand at the entrance to the
field and stocked it, daily, with bags of produce and invited enlisted
personnel living off base to pick up a bag on their way home after work.
I broke the regulations there because I had some irrigation put in to make
sure that our farm was productive.
[Did the personnel work the farm themselves?]
No. The ship's service paid for the mule and the plow and the colored
man did the farming.
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During my fourteen months at Lee Field, we went through two hurricane
seasons and during each season we had to evacuate all planes that could
not be put in the hanger. Our hanger was large, but it was normally only
used for planes undergoing repairs or maintenance. All other planes were
tied down to cleats on the concrete apron adjacent to the hanger. When the
hurricane paths threatened, everything outside was evacuated to another
base. During the second hurricane season after an evacuation to a base that
we considered to be safe, the path of the hurricane changed abruptly and
most of the planes had to be flown to other bases. Our training was disrupted
for about a week during that operation. Cecil Field was visited by
a twister and 35 planes parked on their apron were damaged or destroyed.
Fortunately, Lee Field escaped that one.
Jacksonville is the gateway to Florida and it had, at that time and
probably does now, a rather unusual distinction as a convention city. Just
as surely as the migrating birds fly south in the fall and return to their
nesting grounds in the sprin?? the "Gays" did the same. In the fall they
convened at a certain hotel in Jacksonville and set up a maypole with
streamers of various colors on the hotel ground and frolickeduabout it before
spreading out to their favorite "stomping grounds.u" The same procedure
was repeated in the spring before returning to their respective nesting
grounds. No wonder that Anita Bryant has had her hands full. Green Cove
Springs was also one of their favorite spots. One Saturday night Mark and
Pride Matheson and Bette and I decided to drive up to the Naval Station in
Jacksonville and have dinner at the Officers' Club. Mark was in front
with me and our wives were in the back seat. As women sometimes do, they
were discussing the latest tidbits of the local gossip circuit. Mark and
I perked up our ears when the name of the lieutenant who managed our bachelor
officers' quarters was mentioned as possibly being involved with other
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officers in a "gay way.u" The next morning Mark and I discussed the impact
of the current gossip and I decided that it was definitely in the interest
of morale to have the matter cleared up by getting the facts. I called the
intelligence officer on Admiral McFall's staff at Jacksonville and told
him that I might have a problem and asked for a Naval intelligence officer
to come down and investigate. He was very experienced in that line of
work and asked to be put up at BOQ for a few days. He further stated that
by mere observation he could spot a fairy about nine times out of ten. A
couple of days later, he came to see me and he said that he felt sure that
the BOQ manager was a homosexual. A plan was devised to get the evidence
on himu. His room was searched and the evidence needed was obtained. I
immediately had him transferred to the Naval Air Station at Jacksonville
and relieved from all duty. I later talked to him in Jacksonville and
told him of the evidence we had and he readily admitted that he was a homosexual.
He seemed to be proud of the fact and considered himself to be
superior to normal people. I told him that he could either submit his
resignation from the Navy or I would recormnend him for a general courtmartial.
He submitted his resignation. (Last week Bette and I went to New
York and arrived on Sunday before the Fourth of July. She was there for a
National Portraits Seminar which lasted a week. We took a walk down Fifth
Avenue and lunched at the New York Museum of Modern Art. The streets
were lined with people on both sides and we wondered what was happening.
Soon we heard noises and found out. A procession had blocked off Fifth
Avenue for four or five miles. An estimated 100,000 gays and lesbians
were marching down Fifth Avenue and you've never seen anything to equal it
in your life. It was the most disgusting scene I've ever witnessed.u)
Most of the officers stationed at Lee Field were reserve officers who
had entered the service as volunteers with the intention of serving only
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for the duration. Quite a number had been trained as air combat information
officers (ACT). They were a hand-picked group. Many were from Ivy League
universities. The group had been organized and trained as a special project
of Rear Admiral John H. Towers--"Jack" Towers., Naval Aviator No. 3---when he
was Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics from 1939 to 1942. During that period,
Rear Admiral Jack Towers (later Admiral Towers) expanded naval aviation
forty times its pre-war strength in personnel and twenty-five times in aircraft
inventory. Since many of those officers had been trained to serve
in combat units, I made it a point to let each one know that I would arrange
to have anyone desiring combat duty to be transferred to such a unit when
he wished. I did not want them to have to tell their grandchildren that
their service in World War II had been confined to the continental United
States. So far as I know, all requests for combat duty were granted.
The command of the Naval Auxiliary Air Station Green Cove Springs,
Florida, was a demanding one, but also a rewarding one. As I have stated,
the most difficult part was having to write letters of condolence to the
parents of those brave and outstanding young men who lost their lives while
training for one of the most hazardous aspects of aviation--combat. Nevertheless,
there was some consolation in knowing that when I left for my
next command, the casualty rate among the student pilots was less than half
of what it was when I took command. I had kept a monthly chart showing
what the rate was.
In October, 1944 some 14 months after I took command, I was ordered
by the Commander of Operations Training to proceed to Chicago and take
comrr.and of the training carrier U.uS. S. SABLE based at Chicago, which
was also under his command. When I went to see him just prior to my
departure, he said, "Bill, I want to apologize for having to send you to
Lee Field. At that time it was the most inefficient base in my command.
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Now if it isn't the best, it is certainly one of the best." I thanked him
and made my goodbye to Rear Admiral McFall and his staff. That night the
station's officers and their wives gave a farewell party for Bette and me.
They presented me with a lovely cocktail shaker suitably engraved. The
next rrorning we took our departure and pulled out in our Chevy and we had
gone only a quarter of a mile when I heard a jeep beeping behind me and
approaching at high speed. It pulled alongside and stopped. Out pops Hugh
Ewing, the athletic director. He presented me with an autographed softball
which said "Commander W. H. Ashford, Jr., pitcher for base administration."
It was filled with the autographs of members of our softball league. I
still have the ball.
My orders gave me a few days leave in addition to travel time, so Bette
and I headed for the Cloisters Hotel at Sea Island, Georgia. When we
arrived, we were delighted to be welcomed by Margaret and Lee Spruance
from Greenville, Delaware. Margaret was the daughter of Admiral and Mrs.
Halsey whom I had knom ever since Pensacola days. Bette and I had been
entertained previously in their Greenville, Delaware, home. At dinner that
night, Major Richardson Dilworth, "Dick", U.uS. M. C.uR., and his wife
came over to our table for a chat. Dick had been A. C. I. officer on Admiral
Halsey's staff in the South Pacific with me. I had knom him well. His
new billet was Officer-in-Charge of the radar stations in the area. They
were living on Sea Island and invited Bette and me to join them on a family
picnic on Stmday morning at Jekyll Island. That picnic was a memorable
experience.
We took off from Sea Island in a Navy motor latmch and landed at a
broken-down pier leading to the old boathouse on Jekyll Island. Jekyll
Island was at that time omed by the Jekyll Island Club. There were only
two occupants on the island--the caretaker and his wife. No club member
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had been there for many years, yet the club met once a year. in New York
City and appropriated the money to pay the caretakers. It was reported
that before the tum of the century the members of the Jekyll Island Club-some
sixty in number as I recall--controlled through interlocking directorates
97% of the corporate wealth of America. We walked around the grounds
and saw the cottages of the Rockefellers, the Vanderbilts, the Arthur
Curtis Jameses and others. In a large garage, we saw a number of little
red battery driven cars about three feet high capable of holding two people
which were formerly used for transportation. The cottages were more like
mansions. The furniture was all in place. Everything was in order at least
as far as one could tell from peering through the windows from the outside.
There was a golf course bordering the sea, a skeet range, and miles of
beautiful windswept beaches. The caretaker took us into the Jekyll Island
clubhouse. The silver and linen were in place and all equipment was intact.
It appeared that a banquet could be held there on short notice. After our
tour of the island, we came back to the boathouse and had lunch with the
Dilworths and their children. No outsider was allowed on the island and
it was only because there was radar installed there under Dick's control
that we were able to go. It. was an interesting trip, but it gave one something
of the feeling that one gets when one sees the opulence of former
years such as in Pompei and now in Newport. To see that beautiful island
going to waste seemed so unnecessary.
A few years later the island was taken over by the State of Georgia.
A causeway was constructed connecting it to the mainland and a development
program designed to preserve the best of the past and to develop it for
future generations was instituted by the state government. Thirty years
later Bette and I spent a week there and it was a joy to see how well the
controlled development program of the state had worked out. Many of the
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original buildings had been restored. The wetlands had been preserved. A
bird and wildlife sanctuary had been created and building along the beaches
was strictly limited. Outside of the Rockefeller cottage, the first telephone
installed in the United States �by John Rockefeller, Sr., was standing
in a booth on the lawn. The phone originally was wired to New York City
and San Francisco.
After retiring from the Navy, I called on Dick Dilworth when he was
mayor of Philadelphia. While mayor he was a guiding force for restoring
the mall leading from Independence Hall. He and Mrs. Dilworth both invested
in the property in the area. Later Dick ran for governor of Pennsylvania
but was not elected. He. is a member of the Yale Corporation and his present
position is that of manager of the entire Rockefeller Family trust, currently
estimated to be worth several billion dollars. A few days spent at the
Cloisters with the Spruances and their friends was most enjoyable and ended
all too soon as we had to move onu. After stopping to see my father in
Watkinsville, Georgia, for a night, we proceeded on to Chicago.
[This was in October of 1944.]
EAST CAROLINA MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW
RADM WILLIAM H. ASHFORD, JR., USN(RET)
JANUARY 23, 1980
INTERVIEW #5
We went directly to the Edgewater Beach Hotel. The manager was Mr.
Aurand. He had one son who was a graduate of the Naval Academy and then a
lieutenant in the Navy. He was Peter Aurand, a naval aviator who retired
as a vice-admiral. He had another son who was in the Army and became a
major-general. From the time that the SABLE and the WOLVERINE had begun
operations on Lake Michigan as training carriers for the new pilots being
ordered to carrier duty, he had set aside a suite of rooms for each of the
commanding officers of those carriers. He rented them for a reduced rate
which was well within our means. Although the Edgewater Beach Hotel was
the most prestigious hotel in Chicago at that time and hotel rooms were at
a premium, he continued to hold the suites for the incoming commanding
officers as long as the two ships operated as carriers on Lake Michigan.
He was cordiality itself and we had the best of everything. All of the
commanding officers were most appreciative.
The officer I relieved on the SABLE was Captain Kenneth Craig, USN,
later Rear Admiral. He had been in Patrol Squadron 11 with me and was a
close friend. He flew wing man on our section leader.
My tour of duty as commanding officer of the SABLE was to last fran
October, 1944, to June, 1945. It proved to be as strenuous as any I have
ever experienced. That winter turned out to be the coldest in the history
of the weather bureau in the Chicago area. Snow covered the ground for
63 days and Lake Michigan was frozen solid to a distance of fifteen miles
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out at times. The SABLE and WOLVERINE were side-wheelers built about 1900
or prior thereto as car ferries. In order to enable them to maneuver
properly, a rudder was installed in the bow as well as in the stem of the
ships. The maximum speed of the SABLE was 14 knots and of the WOLVERINE
15 knots. They were coal-burners and had reciprocating engines. The plane
guards and rescue vessels for each ship were 75-foot Coast Guard boats
manned by Coast Guard personnel. During the winter months, all navigational
aides were removed fran Lake Michigan since the ore boats stopped running in
winter when Mackinac Strait froze solid. In fact, the two carriers were the
only ships that operated on Lake Michigan during the worst of the winter
season.
My day would begin at 0600 and it was generally 8 or 9 p.m. when I
returned to the hotel. The ship would go out everyday, including holidays
and Sundays, in all kinds of weather since there were at tines up to 650
pilots at nearby Naval Air Station, Glenview, Illinois, waiting to qualify
as carrier pilots. We could not afford to let any opportunity pass without
making an effort to get in even a few landings. There were times when we
would cruise around all day in a fog and return without having had a single
plane to land aboard. The ship was equipped with radar and when our plane
guards lost sight of the carrier in a fog, we would give them a steer back
to the ship over the voice radio. When the lake was frozen, we would take
the plane guards in tow until we reached open water to keep from damaging
their propellers. A history of the operations of the SABLE and WOLVERINE
are contained in the material given to East Carolina University by me. I
participated in supplying information to the author, Candr. Jorn Alden.
At that time, Bette and I had no children and time was heavy on her
hands. Since she had previously worked as a commercial artist for Harper's
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Bazaar and Mademoiselle magazines in New York City, I suggested she take her
portfolio to Marshall Field & Co. and ask for a job in their art department.
They hired her on the spot and she proceeded to design, illustrate, and do
lay-out work for their fashion magazine. We were forttmate to have friends
living in the hotel. Rear Admiral John Downs, USN ( Ret) , and Mrs. Downs
were living in the hotel with their married daughter Carlyle Mothersill,
the wife of Philip Mothersill, a naval officer on duty in the Pacific.
Bette and Carlyle became close friends and still are. Carlyle is the
godmother of our firstborn son. Mrs. Downs was the sister of Vice-Admiral
Fairfax Leary, who was the comnander of Battleships Pacific when the Japs
struck Pearl Haroor and irrmobilized his force. Admiral �Downs was then the
executive director of the Arrerican Red Cross. A few weeks after our
arrival, Pat and Ruth Mitchell joined us at the hotel. He assumed command
of the WOLVERINE. Pat had previously commmded the Naval Auxilary Air
Station at Cecil Field, Florida. After a few weeks, Bette still found too
much spare time on her hands as her work at Marshall Field did not keep her
fully occupied. She suggested to me that she look for an additional job,
but I advised her that it should only be done with Marshall Field's approval.
Accordingly, she explained the situation to her boss who turned down the
idea cold. Instead he told her that he would double her salary and let her
do her work in her apartrrent if she desired and come to the office only
when she wished to or needed to use their facilities.
The crews of the SABLE and WOLVERINE were, for the most part, naval
reserves who lived in the Chicago area and had served aboard those vessels
ever since they were canmissioned. I was particularly fortunate in having
an executive officer, Comnander Crow, and a navigator, Lieutenant Stranberg,
who had grown up on the lake, so to speak. Everyday the ships would put
out to sea at the same time and at that point an in.tense canpetitim would
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take place to see which ship would get in the most carrier landings during
the day. It was a test of judgement, navigation, and seamanship as well as
weather forecasting. The best predictim of what the wind's force and direction
would be that day would generally determine which vessel came out
ahead in carrier landings for the day. My navigator with his accurate
knowledge of the lake would sorretimes hold a course approaching the shore
so long that it would make rre nervous. He knew his stuff and he knew the
waters of Lake Michigan as few did. That knowledge helped in part to overcome
our slower speed when rmining downwind to gain launching position.
Another important factor in speed was due to the fact that a minimum of
19 or 20 knots of wind over the deck was required in order for a.scout or
fighter plane to land safely. I refer to relative wind, not to actual wind.
A couple of knots more of relative wind were required for the heavier
torpedo planes. So you can see that many times we were operating under the
minimum wind conditions. A decision whether to continue or cease operations
was not infrequent and was often very difficult to make.
Conmander Crow had advised me that because of the age of the ship I
should use the bow rudder sparingly. Accordingly, I always maneuvered the
ship during sortie from harbor on the stern rudder alone whenever it seemed
practical to do so. One day we were steaming along at full speed when
the ship gave a terrific shudder and began to tum in a circle out of
control. The engines were stopped and an inspection was made to determine
the problem. The bolt or pin that held the bow rudder in the mid position
had sheared and the bow rudder was thrown hard-over. There was nothing to
do but to anchor the ship where we were and wait until a team of divers could
come down from the Great Lakes Naval Station. They arrived the next day
and work began to remove the rudder fran the ship. Since the shaft extended
several feet inside the hold of the ship and it was corroded and tightly
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wedged in the housing, it posed quite a problem. Finally, the rudder and
shaft were forced downward and out using hydraulic jacks. It fell into
the bottom of the lake, was buoyed, and recovered by barge and crane later.
I was asked by the material officer of the Ninth Naval District, in which
we were located, if I wanted to have the ship put into dry dock for installation
of another bow rudder. I felt coofident that I could operate the
ship without it and declined to lay it up. The bow rudder was never
reinstalled. To have installed a new rudder would have taken several weeks
and the ship would have had to go into Lake Erie and be dry-docked in
Cleveland.
As winter came m, Chicago harbor froze over and the lake turned into
solid ice along its borders. It finally froze solid for the distance of
some fifteen miles from Chicago. Since we required open water to operate,
the number of landings we could get in daily began to decrease. It was
during winter's peak that we had 650 pilots waiting to qualify on the
beach. The Chicago River flows out of Lake Michigan and through downtown
Chicago starting at the Navy Pier. At 0730 every morning, a specially
built boat would be waiting at the dock in the Chicago River to carry us
out to our ships. The vessel had a heavy steel hull and a draft of thirteen
feet forward and four feet aft. It was so constructed in order to crash
through the solid ice of Chicago harbor. I recall an instance during the
height of winter when the officers and crew had embarked on that vessel and
it had left the dock and had gme about 100 yards toward Lake Michigan
through solid ice. We then heard a cry fran astern and looked back and saw
a sailor running up the Chicago River trying to catch the boat. We shouted
for him to go back, but on he came. He ran alongside the boat and we pulled
him aboard. The ice was so thick that he did not fall through, even though
he was only a foot away fran the boat when we hauled him in. Needless to
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say, he had had a hard night. He was still showing the effects of his
night out:ing.
[How did the ship propel itself through the ice?]
The thirteen feet of solid steel :in the bow crushed the ice and the
four-foot draft enabled the propeller to turn free of ice. As a matter of
fact the Russian ice-breakers used to clear the Northeast Passage
were built on the same principle. The sloping bow climbs up on the ice
and the weight of the ship crushes it. They climb up again repeating the
process.
When the harbor was frozen over with solid ice, I would put both anchors
down in an effort to prevent the ship fran dragging anchor if the ice pack
shifted. However, this procedure was not always successful. One night I
was called at about 2:00 and told that the pack ice was shifting and the
ship was dragging toward the breakwater. I rushed down to the dock after
calling up and asking for the Chicago fireboat to meet me at the dock. It
was there when I arrived and we proceeded to the ship. The fireboat came
under the SABLE's stem and I boarded the ship over a Jacob's ladder swinging
from the boat boon. Chicago Harbor's breakwater did not extend to the southeast.
Therefore, a strong wind fran the southeast would cause a shift in
the ice pack in the harbor. When icing in the harbor was heavy, the ship
would drift with the ice despite both anchors being down. Such was the
case in this instance. When I got on the bridge, the ship was very close
to the breakwater and broadside thereto. However, the ship's movement had
piled up the ice between the ship and the breakwater which in tum prevented
further movement of the ship and saved it from damage. The ice had formed
a cushion. By using the fireboat to break the ice from around the stem of
the ship, it was finally maneuvered clear of the breakwater. For the rest
of the night the sea detail was manned, the engines were used to ease the
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strain on the anchors, and the ship was ready to get underway and clear the
harbor. The same incident occurred a second time during the winter and the
same procedure was carried out with no damage to the SABLE. I might add,
however, that I would hate to have to go through many of those experiences.
The weather on Lake Michigan is very changeable and highly unpredictable.
High winds can come up suddenly without advance warning. On one occasion,
the SABLE was operating in smooth water and the gangway was triced up to
the gunnels rather than being removed and brought in oo deck. Then a wind
of about 60 knots hit us quite suddenly and carried away the gangway.
The SABLE was the first u. S. carrier to have a metal deck instead of
a wooden one. Since oil and metal caused slippery decks, experiments were
conducted by the Minnesota Mining Company aboard the SABLE to determine the
most suitable covering. As a result of those experiments using various
coverings, the material used on the Midway class carriers then under construction
was developed and used on that class. When an aircraft crashed
on deck or was recovered fran the water, it was placed on an outrigger
extending
,,.
outboard of the deck over the water. All deck space had to be
used for take-offs and landings. A plane parked on deck during landing
would have been a hazard due to the narrowness of the deck. The ship had only
three outriggers installed forward of the island (navigation bridge). If
we had more than three crashed planes aboard during one day's operations,
the ship would have to return to port and off-load the duds.
It was in February when icy conditions were most severe. On one very
cold day in February the ship was operating with high winds. When it came
time to return to port, the winds had built up wind rows of ice formations
similar to a field of hay that had been raked in wind rows before being
harvested. Those ice formations were two or three feet high. The ship
attempted to plow through them, but it was stopped. I would then back off
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and try again. After several such attempts, the condenser intakes became
clogged with ice and the engines had to be stopped. There we were--stuck
fast in the ice and unable to move. We called the Coast Guard and requested
a Coast Guard icebreaker to come to our rescue. We settled down for the
night and waited for the icebreaker which was due to arrive the following
day. The next day the sturdy Coast Guard vessel arrived and proceeded to
cut away the ice around the ship. In a short time, our rescue vessel was
also stuck in the ice and her engines became inoperable. She advised us of
her predicament and called the Coast Guard requesting another icebreaker
of heavier construction be sent. The second vessel, being larger, was able
to break a path through the ice for the SABLE and allow us to return to
port. It then towed the disabled Coast Guard icebreaker into port. That
day I wrote a letter to my boss, Rear Admiral McFall, Commander of Operational
Training, Jacksonville, Florida, describing the incident and advising him
that I intended to stay in port for two days hoping for improved operating
conditions. Those two days were the only times that the SABLE did not "put
to sea" during the eight months in which I had camnand. A pranpt reply
was received from Admiral McFall in the form of a highly commendatory letter
giving praise to both the SABLE and the WOLVERINE for their dedicated service.
Too much credit cannot be given to our Coast Guard plane guards for
their efficiency in rescuing our pilots when planes crashed in the water.
With a water temperature of about 37 degrees, which we had on many days, a
man could only last about four or five minutes in the water. They recovered
many pilots and we never lost one.
It was a long, hard winter, but spring finally came. Shortly thereafter
I received, in March, my promotion to captain and also my orders to take
command of one of our escort carriers in the Pacific--the U.uS. S. COPAHEE-(
CVE 12). The COPAHEE was the first CVE to be canmissioned m the West
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Coast on June 15, 1942. The canplete history of the COPAHEE is in my
possession.
My relief was to be Canmander William A. Schoech who retired as a
vice-admiral. Bill Schoech was an old friend of mine. It was customary
for the incoming commanding officer to witness operations for a few days in
order to familiarize himself with their nature before assuming canrnand. It
was late afternoon of my last day of command. Bill and I were together on
the bridge and only a few more landings were scheduled before I would be
taking her into port for the last time. The turnover ceremcny, to which
prominent Chicago officials and private citizens had been invited, was
scheduled for 0900 the next day at Navy Pier. The people of Chicago were
very proud of their Navy. I was telling Bill that during my eight months
as commanding officer of the SABLE we had made approximately 23,000 landings
and had not lost a single man. I was very proud of that record. About
that time a torpedo plane (a TPF) came up the groove for a landing and
struck the stem ramp. The plane broke in half. The engine rolled up the
deck and the plane and pilot fell into the water astern. I held my breath.
In a few seconds, a head was seen to bob to the surface and our trusty plane
guard fished the pilot out of the water in good shape. It was a close call.
That incident taught me a lesson--a mission is never complete until the
last chick is nestled snugly under its mother's wing.
[You said earlier that the SABLE was a side-wheeler. How do you mean
that?]
It's just like the Del ta Queen except that the paddle wheel is on the
side rather than astern. The paddle wheels extended to the height of the
flight deck.
[Was that a handicap in the area you were working in with all that
ice?]
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Yes, otherwise we probably wouldn't have gotten stuck. That paddle
wheel got clogged with ice whereas a propeller, being below the ice, would
have pushed the bow through the ice formatioos.
[There was always the danger of damaging the paddles, too, fran hitting
solid ice and bending or breaking?]
Yes, there was.
[Were these two ships unique?]
They were unique. They were built as car ferries and had flat tops.
They went from Chicago to Cleveland.
[How would they canpare in size with a regular carrier?]
They didn't have a hangar deck, but they were about 6,00Jtoos. A
jeep carrier was about 8, 000 or 9,000 tons. The flight deck was flush
except for a little small island where the bridge was located and it had
outriggers extending over the side for damaged aircraft so that they would
not foul the deck. On take-offs they rolled the plane back to the stem
where they would have the canplete run of the deck. We could operate with
about four or five knots of actual wind. If the wind dropped any lower
than that, we couldn't operate even though the ship steamed at full speed.
Some of our operations were pretty marginal, however Lake Michigan gave
freedom from the sub threat.
They served a real purpose as training carriers because the submarine
menace was great at sea. A carrier in launching and landing aircraft has
to continue on a steady course into the wind and therefore is very vulnerable
to submarine attack. The first training carrier was the LONG ISLAND, a
converted collier, operating in Chesapeake Bay. Lake Michigan,uhowever,uwas
rrore feasible. It was a larger body of water, and it had more "sea room.u"
The force and direction of the prevailing wind m Lake Michigan was also
more suitable for carrier operations.
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Also we had a naval industrial complex there in Chicago. The Navy
Pier was a training station for our Navy radar personnel and had dock space.
It was quite desirable.
[Were these ships really seaworthy?]
I would say no paddle wheel ship is seaworthy in a rough sea. I doubt
if they would have held up in heavy swells. I wouldn't recanrnend a sidewheeler
in the North Atlantic.
There is a saying among Chicagoans: "We have two seasons here-winter
and August." I wasn't there in August, but I sure as hell know
that they had a winter! We departed Chicago on June 21, 1945, and that day
it snowed!
Bette and I loaded up the Chevy and headed for Philadelphia. The
COPAHEE was then in the western Pacific and my orders called for me to take
command when she returned to Alameda, California, in late July or early
August. Meanwhile, I was given a month's leave, which was most welcane.
Bette was then four months pregnant and I would have an opportunity to see
her comfortably settled before going back to the Pacific. Her parents had
sold their home in Merion and were living at the Drake Hotel in Philadelphia.
I rented a suite in the same hotel where she was to remain until my tour as
canrnanding officer of the COPAHEE was canpleted. My leave went all too
quickly and the thought that I could not be with Bette when our first child
was born weighed heavily on both of us.
In late July, I reported in at the Naval Air Statioo, Alameda, California,
to wait for the COPAHEE to arrive. Also staying at the bachelor
officers' quarters was my old friend, Fitzhugh Lee. As bachelors, we had
shared a house in Norfolk and also adjoining suites at the Naval Air Station,
Pensacola, when I was aide to the commandant. While there, we had
decided that residential waterfront property on Pensacola Bay would be a
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good investment and we pooled our meagre resources to buy a tract of land
which we split in half. It was on the water. We discussed the prospect
of selling out when we met at N. A. S. Alameda, but decided to hold on. It
proved to be a sound decision.
The COPAHEE was enroute to San Francisco fran Pearl Harbor when Japan
capitulated on August 19, 1945. That night a wild celebratioo broke loose
in downtown San Francisco. I did not go into the city to participate but
only read about it in the newspapers the next day. Sanehow the end of a
long bloody conflict did not have the same effect on those who had actively
participated as on those that had to stand by in the wings. Our mood was a
sober one, but the spirits flowed freely.
On August 27, 1945, I relieved Captain William J. Mullins, USN, at the
Naval Air Station Alameda, California, as commanding officer of the U.uS. S.
COP AHEE. His class at the Naval Academy was four years ahead of mine. He
was well liked and a fine naval officer and knol'rJll to all as "Moon."
Once hostilities had ceased, a great clamor arose to "get the boys
hane by Christmas." The Navy promptly organized Operation "Magic Carpet"
consisting of about forty escort carriers (CVES) and put them under direct
command of Rear Admiral Samuel P. Ginder, better knom as "Cy" to all of
us. Our hangar deck was turned in to a giant bunk room and the COP AHEE
began to shuttle between West Coast ports and the western Pacific transferring
veterans, replacements, and equipment to and fran their respective
destinations. My tour as commanding officer of the COPAHEE was spent eriscrossing
the Pacific, always loaded to the gunwales, so to speak. Steaming
at a speed of fourteen knots, it took about thirty days to cross the "big
pond." We always steamed alone and there were not many incidents that broke
the monotony of our voyages. I will, however, mention a few that may be
of interest.
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Prior to his detachment as conmanding officer, Moon Mullins advised
me to keep an eye on my medical officer who was a lieutenant junior-grade
in the U.uS. Navy Medical Corp Reserve. It seemed that his ambition was to
be a surgeon and on each trip he would cane to the captain and request a
change of course in order to reduce the roll of the ship during an operation
to remove the appendix of a sailor. On a recent occasion after one such
operation, the sailor developed canplications and when the ship arrived at
NAS Alameda, he was transferred to the Naval Hospital at Oakland, California,
for treatrrent. While there, he died. As the result of an autopsy, it was
learned that he died because the operation had been botched. That was
before I relieved.
As predicted by Moon, on our first trip out he came to me and said
that he might have a sailor with acute appendicitis which would require an
operation and he would keep me advised. A few hours later, he came back up
on the bridge and said that he was convinced of the need of an operation and
requested a change of course. We had only cne medical officer in the ship's
complement, so I went along with the recorrmendation with sane reluctance.
On our next trip out, another "probable" case of appendicitis developed.
On this trip, we had a passenger who was a lieutenant camnander in the Naval
Medical Corp. When he came up to me and reported on his probable appendectany
case, I told him to call in the lieutenant canmander, M. D., who was a
passenger and get his diagnosis also. I don't think that the ship's medical
officer knew of the presence of another MD on board. After a few hours,
our medical officer came back and said that the sailor only had an attack
of gastroenteritis and an operaticn was not needed. When the ship returned
to San Francisco, I asked for his transfer, which was promptly granted??
Our next trip was again to the western Pacific. Since we never steamed
in company with other vessels and there was always the danger of floating
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mines which the Japs had released in the western Pacific, it was our practice
to station extra lookouts in the bow of the ship--both starboard and port
sides--armed with high-powered rifles to try an?? spot any mines that might
endanger the ship. Several were sighted and exploded by rifle-fire. That
was one "sport" in which all hands had an intense interest.
Typhoon season in the western Pacific was always a concern. Weather
information was either lacking or meagre at best. On one occasion the
COPAHEE was steaming between Guam and the Philippines; the wind began to
increase, and the swells became longer and longer. It soon became apparent
that we were approaching a typhoon. The winds continued to increase and
became so high that I changed course into the wind and reduced speed to
steerageway, but maintaining steering control. The business of being alone
and a 1000 miles from nowhere when flirting with a typhoon is not a comforting
one. The memory of the disaster to Task Force 38--a fast carrier
task force that was part of Halsey's third fleet--when fueling off Luzon
in December, 1944, was still fresh in our minds. During that operation,
three destroyers capsized with the loss of almost all hands. More than 800
men were lost. Two hundred planes were damaged. Fire broke out in many
ships and sane 28 ships received major damage fran the typhoon. I recall
seeing the carrier HORNET afterwards at the Navy Yard at Hunter's Point
near San Francisco. Its bow had been crushed domward from the heavy seas
like an egg shell pushed in with the thumb. The HORNET was then under the
corrmand of my old shipmate and friend, Captain Charles R. Brom, later
Admiral Brom, who became godfather of our second son. The COPAHEE continued
to head into the wind as it shifted until we rode out the storm. Since
the flight deck was clear, we suffered little or no damage from the storm.
We had no aerologist aboard, but we had the "benefit of clergy."
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During 1944, the C0PAHEE had passed through the eye of the typhoon
while enroute to Brisbane, Australia, with her flight deck loaded with
planes for the southwest Pacific area. All the planes on the flight deck
except ooe were swept overboard. The one plane left was jammed into the
island structure and damaged beyond repair. The rnaxirrum force of the
wind was not recorded because the anemometer carried away at 100 knots.
The COPAHEE was a sturdy vessel. It was originally camnissioned in 1941
as a merchant ship having a tested C-3 hull and later converted into a
carrier in 1942. The CVEs of the Kaiser class were hurriedly built, one
of them was built in ten days, and were of lighter construction with
prefabricated parts. Anyone who has experienced a typhoon or a hurricane
at sea will never underestimate the power of the sea.
On one trip the ship anchored in a harbor at Saipan Island to offload
cargo. There I had lunch with my old boss at the Naval Air Station Jacksonville,
Florida, Captain Arthur (Art) Gavin, the Island Canmander. He
told me of the rrorale problem which he was having now that the war was
over. Everyone was itching to get home. A number of young Red Cross
girls were on the island. They operated the canteens. The Red Cross was
the only civilian organization allowed to send wanen overseas during the
war. All of the girls were carefully selected, well educated, and of
high moral character. Art said that the yrung bucks were getting mighty
restless, so he had decided to bring all of the girls on the island into
me compound, impose a curfew at night, and guard the compound with Marines
on a twenty-four hour basis. He cruldn 't wait to get the girls off the
island. He was concerned for their safety.
From Saipan we put into Tinian Island for a few hours to offload
persoonel and cargo. I went ashore and called on the "Captain of the
Port.u" During my brief visit, he told me that a canpany of Army anti
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aircraft personnel was waiting there for transportation to Guam and on to
the forward area and asked if I would take them there. Since Guam was my
next destination and only an overnight run, I told him that I could take
them and let them bunk down on the hangar deck for the trip. He seemed
very appreciative and somewhat relieved, as I was to learn later. I
wondered at the time why an anti-aircraft canpany was being sent to the
forward area when the war was over, but I dismissed it as one of the usual
snafus that was so prevalent at that time.
Upcn our arrival at Guam, where Admiral Nimitz maintained a forward
base headquarters, I called on the flag officer in canrnand of those headquarters,
Rear Admiral Charles A. Pownall, later vice admiral. He had
been the first commanding officer of our first aircraft carrier built as
such--that is built from the keel up as a carrier. It was the U.uS. S.
RANGER CV-4. I had been assigned to a dive-banbing squadron attached to
that carrier when it was being commissioned at Norfolk, Virginia. Admiral
Pownall invited me to stay for lunch. Seated next to me was the Captain of
the Port. During our conversation, I casually mentioned that I brought
down a company of anti-aircraft soldiers from Tinian to be off-loaded at
Guam. I had orders to proceed on to Zamboanga on the southern tip of the
island of Mindanao after off-loading at Guam and pick up a Marine Airwing
and return them to San Francisco. The harbor was crowded, and I also
learned while ashore that barracks facilities were overtaxed and the water
and food supply ??s short.
Upon my return to the ship after lunch, I was handed a dispatch from
the Captain of the Port which was in response to my previous message
requesting disposition of the anny troops. It read, "Do not, repeat,
Do Not off-load any personnel on Guam.u" That me really put me in a bind.
Unless my hangar deck was clear, I would not be able to carry out my
-15
1
principle mission of returning the Marine Airwing to the U.uS. and
furtherrrore, the army troops had orders to go forward. I checked with my
executive officer, Commander Robert Morgan, and learned that our supplies
had all been off-loaded and the ship was ready to get underway for Zarnboanga
as per schedule. I directed that all boats be called away immediately and
that all Army personnel be loaded in them and disembarked on the beach. As
soon as our boats returned, they were immediately hoisted aboard, and we upanchored
and sailed to Zamboanga. I never heard anything more fran the incident,
but I probably would have heard plenty if I had returned.
We arrived in Zamboanga early one morning. It was the first time that
the COPAHEE had ever put in there. There was a very narrow channel between
the main island and a small island offshore. A strong current of five or six
knots was running and it was necessary to turn the ship around and dock it in
that channel. Fortunately, a Philippine harbor pilot came aboard to handle
the tricky job. In conversation with him after boarding, I learned that he
had been hiding in the hills for four years during the Japanese occupatioo
and this was the first ship that he had handled in that time. It gave me some
concern, but it turned out that he did a superb job and we docked safely without
the use of tugs which were not available in any case. The ship had been docked
about an hour when I went ashore to call on the Commander of the Marine Airwing.
The dock was crowded with natives and there was much activity taking place.
Much to my surprise the activity consisted of sheets, mattress covers, pillowucases,
blankets, and cloth of any description being lowered over the side in
the hands of the natives. In return the natives were sending up U.uS. bills.
The exchange was brisk to say the least, and I irrmediately realized that
unless it was stopped, the ship would be denuded of all bed linens in a short
tirr.e. The natives were in rags as they had been unable to get cloth for the
duration of the war. I had Marine guards posted along the dock and stopped
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the traffic. The native worren were loaded with American currency. I asked
how they happened to have such large sums of money. The answer came back ....
there are a lot of Marines here and most of the native women "take in washing.u"
After loading the equipment and personnel of the Marine Airwing, the ship was
so heavily loaded that I felt that I could not take on another single person,
although there were PT-boat personnel with orders to return to the U.uS. and
requesting passage. It was a difficult request to tum down, but I felt that
I had to do it. While in Zamboanga, I was presented with two straw helmets
by one of the Moro chiefs. One was garnished with mother-of-pearl and I presume
it to be a prized possession of the Moro tribe. When we cast off all
lines to the dock, the strong current held the ship against the dock for several
yards and the COPAHEE left its calling card when our overhang knocked down two
or three of the lampposts before clearing the dock. On to San Francisco by
Pearl we went.
During our next trip to the western Pacific, Bette was due to give birth
to our first child. As the expected date of birth arrived, we had crossed
the 180th meridian and were en route to the Marianas. Several days went by
and no message came. I left word with the radio operator to be alerted for
the ressage and to send it up imrrediately when it came in. For ten days I
sweated it out. Finally about 2 a.m. one morning the rressage came. It was a
bouncing boy and mother and son were doing well. Bette was small and the
baby was large and she really had a rough time of it. The ten days were also
not easy on me, but all's well that ends well.
After returning to San Francisco on December 21, the ship was scheduled
for minor routine maintenance of about three weeks, so I asked for a week's
leave to go to Philadelphia to see my newborn son for Christmas. I hitched
a ride on a Navy plane and headed east on Christmas Eve. En route we
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encountered foul weather and had to land and wait at .Amarillo, Texas. We
took off again in the late afternom, but we again had to land at the Naval
Air Station Olathe, Kansas, due to weather. We arrived there at about
8 p.um. on Christmas Eve and I went to the Bachelor Officers' Quarters to
put up for the night. We had been fighting bad weather ever since leaving
San Francisco and by the time the plane was forced to land at Olathe, our
tongues were hanging out for the need of a stiff drink. It had been a rough
trip. Did we get it? No. We were politely informed after getting to BOQ
that Kansas was a dry state. What a Christmas Eve.
After a few days with Bette and son Bill at the Drake Hotel, I returned
to Alameda with the expectation of going to Japan oo my next trip out.
Before leaving Pearl for San Francisco en the fifteenth of December, I had
contacted the Operations Officer on Rear Admiral Cy Ginder's staff and he
had promised to route me there on my next trip out. However, it was not to
be. During my absence from the ship , a malfunction had been turned up during
an engine overhaul which could develop into real trouble on a long trip and
would require two or three weeks to repair. As a result, I was handed
orders to take the ship to Tacoma, Washington, where she would be decommissimed
and put into mothballs. It was a disappointment for me not to
get to Japanu; but I must say that my disappointment was not shared by many
of the officers and crew whose families lived in the San Francisco area,
and I've always had doubts about that engineering malfuncticn during my
absence.
[You said that the COPAHEE had been cmverted to a carrier from a
merchant ship. Was this not uncorrmon?]
The first 12 or 14 escort carriers were converted from what they call
a Maritime C-3 hull. Thereafter, escort carriers were built from the keel
up as such.
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[So these were still in the process of construction as merchant vessels
when they were converted? They had never actually been comrnissic:ned as
merchant vessels?]
That's right, but the COPAHEE had already been canmissioned as a
rrerchant vessel. These ships were steadier and more seaworthy and larger
than the escort carriers that followed, particularly the Kaiser class.
On January 23, 1946, the COPAHEE sailed for Tacoma, Washington, where
she was docked with several other CVEs waiting their tum to go to the
"graveyard.u" I received orders detaching me as commanding officer and the
exec was left in comrr.and. My orders directed me to report for terr.porary
duty to the chief of the Bureau of Navy Personnel for service on a selection
board convened to select reserve Naval aviators for retention in the regular
Navy. It was a most welcane assignment and would allow me to comnute to
Philadelphia on weekends and be with my family. I felt pretty lucky for
there were a large number of island bases in the West Pacific whose canmanding
officers were due to be relieved and the Aviation Detail Officer
had to reassign the corrmanding officers of several CVEs being deactivated.
The duty on the selection board called for difficult decisicns. Many of the
applicants for the regular Navy to serve as Naval aviators had only canpleted
high school and in some cases the fitness reports had never even been submitted.
In most cases, the information on their performance of duty was
meagre at best. There were cases where a decisim had to be made based on
nothing more tangible than a photograph attached to an applicatim. Were
his eyes bright or dull? Cnly about me in five of the applicants were
accepted due to the large cutback in Naval aviation after the war.
[You did accept some who were only high school graduates?]
Most of them were--the theory being that the younger they were the
better they could be trained to risk their lives in combat. You take the
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older college graduate or one who is married or one who is thinking about
getting married or in business, and he might have second thoughts about
the risks. He would not be quite as eager to tangle in a dogfight as the
young high school graduate.
[That was probably a wise decision in view of Korea caning right on
the tail of World War II like that.]
That's right.
My temporary duty on that board was nearing an end and I began to
wonder what my next assignment would be. It was about that time when I
ran into Vice Admiral Harry W. Hill, later an Admiral, in the hallway in
the Navy Department. His daughter had recently married my old friend,
Fitz Lee,uand I had known him well during the time I served with Admiral
Halsey. Admiral Hill told me that the Department of Defense had just authorized
the establishrrent of a National War College to be located in Washington,
D. C. It would consist of senior officers of all services approaching
selecticn for flag rank, and also members of the State Department. Admiral
Hill had been ordered as the first commandant of that corrmand. It was to
be rotated periodically among the several services. He went on to add
that now that the war was over, those officers who were selected to attend
one of the service war colleges and for the National War College were sure
to have an advantage in the selection process for flag rank. That conversation
prompted immediate action on my part. I checked in to see when the
selection board for the War College at Newport, Rhode Island, would meet.
I was too junior to be considered for the National War College at that time.
I learned that it was already in session. I then asked for a list of the
officers on the board and saw the name of one of my friends. I went to the
room in the Navy Department where the board was in session, knocked on the
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dooru, and asked to speak to my friend. I told him that I wanted to be considered
for the Senior War College course and I asked him if it was too late
to get my narre in the pot. He said that he would be glad to have my jacket
pulled and put my narre in. Within two weeks I received orders to report
to the commandant of the Naval War College for instruction in the senior
course of strategy and tactics. Admiral Raymond A. Spruance was then
commandant. In June, 1946, Bette and I once again loaded up the Chevy
(I speak of it fondly for it served us well for fifteen years) and headed
for Newportu, Rhode Island. This time something new had been added--our
six-month old son, Bill, and our fulltime practical nurse, Esther, who
would be living with us. She was young and quite plump, PemsylvaniaDutch,
with a wcnderful disposition. She had been living with Bette at
the Drake Hotel ever since Bill was born and her willingness to come to
Newport with us gave Bette the freedom to get out and paint the wonderful
coastline that was so beloved by watercolorists.
Our first task was to find a house to live in and that proved to be
quite an undertaking. We contacted the omer of the number one rental
agency in Newport and what he showed us was most disappointing. Finally
he said, "I hate to see you so disappointed. I would like to show you
sorrething that I know you would like , but I dm' t think the owners would
rent.u" He took us to Middletom adjoining Newport and showed us a cottage
right on the Sakonnet River near the point where the river flows into the
Atlantic Ocean. It is called Sachauest Point. It was a perfect setting
with a semi-private beach about 300 yards away. Eagle Rock in the river was
in front of our yard and one could climb dom a steep rocky cliff and swim
from that rock. Bette and I were carried away with the idea of living there.
The owners were contacted and, yes, they would consider a year's lease for
a price. That price turned out to be much more than we could affordu, but
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we couldn't resist and took the place anyway. At that time a rent-control
law, passed by Ccngress, was in effect. Nevertheless, there were so many
canplaints from the military in Newport about rent gouging that the military
authorities, after we had signed the contract, sent out a questionnaire
to all defense personnel in the area requesting them to give details on the
houses they had rented and the amount of rent being paid. When the survey
was completed, we learned that we had been charged about a $100 a month
above the control price for the house. When the owner of our cottage made
me a reftmd, I offered to return their check to them for I had signed a
year's lease in good faith not knowing of the law violation. To say that
they accepted it with alacrity would be an understatement. I then understood
why the real estate agent and the owners had been so coy about showing
me the house and stating a rental price. They had been waiting for the right
pigeon to come along and I was it. The Navy had finally succeeded in closing
down the Naval torpedo station en Goat Island near Newport because of the
faulty workmanship on the torpedoes they turned out and it seemed that the
citizens of Newport were out to recoop the revenue loss from the closing
by taking it out of the hides of the military personnel statimed in the
area.
The year that I spent as a student at the Naval War College was a fascinating
one. The development of the atom bomb had served to revolutionize
prevailing concepts of Naval warfare and our guest lecturers were the best
inforrr.ed people available. One of the principle methods of instruction
consisted of problem solving of hypothetical solutions involving forces of
many types by opposing sides. The student was always placed in the role
of the overall canmander of one of the opposing forces and the procedure
used was called the "estimate of the situaticn" followed by an operation
order employing all the forces assigned. The "estimate of the situation"
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was designed to follow a logical mental process that would evaluate all the
known factors and rr:ake certain assumptions that would justify and support
the final decisions reached as set forth in the operation order which followed.
The students worked together in four-man teams, generally, and those teams
were composed of officers with different backgrounds of experience. The
team would work together during the discussion phase and then each member
would draw up his own "estimate of the situation" and operations order.
Critiques were held by the student body and some of the solutions were played
out on the gameboard. Until I attended the Naval War College, I never realized
that practically all major Naval commanders in World War II had also been
students there at sanetime in their careers.
If you have ever been in Newport in the fall, you can understand how
fascinating the colorful skies can be to an artist who paints watercolors.
During our first fall, Bette was out almost every day with her pack on her
back--painting. She painted 35 pictures that first fall and all except 3
or 4, which we kept for ourselves, were sold either to a dealer in Boston
or to Newport residents. The Art Society of Newport gave her a one-man
show which was attended by Boston dealers.
After being at the War College for a few months, I had a visit from
Colonel Julian Brown USMC who had been Admiral Halsey's intelligence
officer in SOPAC. He told me that the Navy was sending Fleet Admiral
Halsey (five stars by the act of Cmgress) to Central and South American
countries on a goodwill mission. The Admiral wanted to take with him some
members of his old staff and I was asked if I would like to go almg. The
temptatim was great, but I did not want to leave my family for that length
of tire and I was also very much involved in my work, so I declined. In
talking later with one of the officers who went on the tour, they got the
red carpet treatment at every stop and were literally "hanging on the
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ropes" by the time it was all over. There was so nuch wining and dining
that it took them days to fully recover.
One of our neighbors was a lobster fisherman and I became interested
to the extent that I built about four lobster pots, bought a rowboat, and
placed the pots off our front lawn near Eagle Rock in the Sakonnet River.
The rowboat was kept at a nearby beach (Third Beach) and Bette would go out
with me and row while I serviced the pots. It was great fun and we were all
benefited by our new venture.
The weather in summer and early fall in Newport may be described as
glorious, but the winters are cold and damp. If winter comes, can spring
be far behind? Well, with the spring, I was one of those selected to
remain for two years on the War College staff as an instructor. Since we
had fallen in love with Newport, I readily accepted the offer and we were
to have two more years in Middletown. During the spring, our little Pennsylvania-
Dutch nurse became hanesick and decided to go back to Pemsylvania.
We all hated to see her go, but could understand her reasons. We were
fortunate to get part-time help from a young Portuguese girl, the daughter
of a nearby farmer, which permitted Bette to continue her paintings particularly
on weekends when I would go along and fish from the rocks while
she painted seascapes nearby.
In the fall of my first year as instructor, a member of the faculty of
Harvard University came to the War College for a few weeks to conduct a
survey and make tests and advise the members of the faculty on oral communications.
He was known as an expert on the subject--note the Navy's
definition of an expert was a son-of-a-bitch fran a long way off. Well, he
spent some time with me, but at the end he appeared to consider that I
was a hopeless case in so far as speechmaking was concerned. His only
constructive advice was to read Sidney Lanier's poems. Since Lanier was
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60
Georgia-born and a favorite of mine, I had already committed parts of the
"Song of the Chattahoochee" and the "Marshes of Glen" to memory. As a
matter of curiosity, I was able to see his confidential report on me and
he had indeed listed rre as a hopeless case beyond improvement. It kind of
rocked rre back on my heels and brought to mind the first tirre in my life
I had been called on to make a speech. It was at a d:inner for the little
basketball league at the YMCA :in my hometown of Athens, Georgia. I was
ten years old and captain of the winn:ing team. When called upon to say a
few words, I stood up for a few seconds and then sat down without uttering
a sound. Nevertheless, I was not ready to accept the expert's advice
of be:ing a hopeless case and jo:ined a group of instructors and students who
met at night for the purpose of improving their speechmak:ing. I made great
progress--so much so that my presentations before the student body were
receiving favorable comment from my peers at the end of the year. The
following year, the Harvard expert came down aga:in to do his thing. This
time he gave me a most favorable report and I sought him out and asked why
he had classed me as hopeless :in his first analysis. His reply, "I just
wanted to give you a kick :in the tail and get you go:ing."
So much for the speechmaking, but there was another problem that was
handicapping me in my duties. Having been a naval aviator s:ince I was an
ensign, I had developed a hearing defect in my left ear. It was called
otosclerosis, a medical term, but in the language of a Naval aviator it
was known as "aviator's notch" and common to many who had flown for years in
open cockpit planes. The defect was rrost noticeable when I attempted to
answer questions from the floor after a presentaticn. As a temporary measure,
a fellow instructor would stand in frmt of the platform and repeat the
question asked so that I could hear it without giving away the fact that I
was going deaf. As a matter of fact, my health record contained no reference
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61
to my deafness. I knew the situation would worsen with tirre, so I decided
to have an ear operation to correct it before it appeared on my official
health record and forced my retirement. Dr. Leppert, an Austrian, had
invented a rrethod of surgery called the fenestration operatimu?? There
were only about three surgeons in the United States who had studied under
Dr. Leppert and were experienced in the procedures. One was Dr. Frank D.
Lathrop, head of the ear, nose, and throat department of the Lahey Clinic
in Boston. I requested thirty days leave and went to Boston for the operation.
Since a window was cut through the bmy structure of the inner ear,
one aftereffect was a lack of balance. In fact you practically had to learn
to walk all over again. The operation was a success and the Navy never
learned of my deafness until I came up for a physical examination incident
to my request for retirement. For the first time, they gave me an audiogram.
That one couldn't be faked, so they fitted me with a hearing aid
upon retirement. The reason that I had been able to hide my hearing defect
was due to the fact that during my annual physical exams the flight surgem
would tell rre to turn my head and to put my finger in my offside ear while
he whispered numbers and words. Instead of doing that, I would cup my
offside ear. Most of the old-time aviators had sane hearing defect and the
flight surgeons were well aware of the "aviator notch" syndrane, as it was
called, and were inclined to give us a break.
When our son became two years old, I decided that he should have a
puppy. Since we had a love for Labrador Retrievers and knew how fond they
were of children, we decided to get a female Labrador and breed her and
raise a litter of puppies. We were fortunate to get a fine female with
outstanding bloodlines that belmged to a neighbor. When she came in heat,
we bred her and from that time on our household was never quite the same
again. Her name was "Trieve.u" When her time came, I fashioned her a box
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in the basement and we awaited the event. It came one afternom when I had
heard a yelp from the basement. The dog was running around in much pain and
trying to tear up the place. I saw a puppy over in one comer on the
concrete floor. I picked it up and put it in the box. "Trieve" followed
and I stood by in case I would have to act as midwife. She began to give
birth to the other puppies. Since "Trieve" was a small Labrador, she was
having a difficult time. After giving birth to six puppies, she was completely
exhausted although there was still another on the way. It began to
look as if she could not make it on her own, so I had to step in and play
the role of midwife after all. I delivered the last puppy. They were all
healthy and "Trieve" recovered her strength rapidly. After a few days, one
of our dog-loving neighbors came by to see the litter. When I took her down
to the basement to show them off, she expressed horror that I would dare
keep them there in such a dark place. Shamefaced, we moved the box and the
puppies into our guestroom which was airy and sunny. There they stayed
until the puppies were large enough to climb out of the box. Meanwhile,
we had constructed a pen adjacent to the garag-e and moved them there restoring
amicable relations with our dog-loving neighbors.
The Labrador is a noble breed and "Trieve" became very nruch attached
to Bill. On me occasion, Bette and I were going out to dinner and had
engaged a sitter who was sitting with us for the first time. When we returned,
we found a frightened girl. Bill had started crying during our
absence and the sitter went upstairs to have a look at him. The door to
his room was closed and "Trieve" was guarding the threshold. She bared
her teeth and growled and would not let the sitter into the room. Our
cottage was right on the river and at the front of a winding driveway about
500 yards from the main road, Indian Avenue. One day Bill, then a toddler,
was playing in the backyard and with "Trieve" at my heels I started out the
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door to check on him. There was a sharp curve in the driveway near the
backyard that obscured any vehicle coming down the drive. As I opened the
door, "Trieve" shot by me in a flash and before I realized what was happening
she had grabbed Bill by the coat and pulled him to the side of the
driveway just in time to avoid a delivery truck coming around the bend down
the drive. I've always felt that her sharp ears and instinct probably saved
my son's life. our fondness for Labradors has never ceased.
EAST CAROLINA MANUSCRIPT OOLLECTION
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW
FEBRUARY 27, 1980
RADM WILLIAM H. ASHFORD, JR. , USN ( RET)
INTERVIEW #6
When the puppies were about six weeks old, it was a custorrary sight
to watch them follow their mother down the trail to Third Beach--about
500 yards away--for their swimming lessen. It is a little known fact
that the Labrador and Chesapeake Retrievers are the ooly dogs native to
North Arrerica. The Labradors used to swim out to the ships caning into
Labrador Harbors. They were water dogs--hence their name. Sane of those
dogs were taken back to England by the ships' captains and the breed established
there. In later years the strain died out in .America and the Labrador
we now have here was imported from the English breed.
The seven puppies and my sen Bill would have a great time frolicking
on the front lawn, protected fran the cliff overhanging the river by thick
shrubbery. Bill was dressed in a heavy coat with a woolen scarf around
his neck. One day I looked out of the bay w:mdow and saw that the puppie_s
had toppled him to the ground and together were dragging him across the
lawn by his coat and scarf. This incident meant that it was time for all
the puppies, except one, to go. It was about this time when Dr. and Mrs.
Frank D. Lathrop paid us a social call. He had performed the operatioo on
my ear at the Lahey Clinic in Boston. I gave them cne of the puppies for
their children in appreciation of his interest. Eleven years later, he
wrote me a letter saying what a wonderful dog the Labrador had been and
how much they all loved him.
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When Admiral Spruance became president of the Naval War College after
the war, one of the first innovations he made was to establish a research
department having the mission of writing "The Battle Lessons of World
War II." Since the Battle of Midway--in terms of numbers of ships and men
committed to the plan, but not necessarily engaged in action--was the
largest battle in naval history and me of the most important, it was
selected as the first naval battle to be researched. Also the fact that
Admiral Spruance had assumed overall tactical corrmand during the battle was
a factor. The format followed in arriving at the battle lessms to be
learned was as follows: The Department head was Corrmodore R. W. Bates. He
had eight officers assigned as his assistants. These eight officers were
forrred into an .American team and into a Japanese team--each consisting of
four officers who were respmsible for the research and writing of the
narrative of their respective team. There was an officer :in charge of
each team. The first year was spent largely in researching the war diaries
of the ships involved, the letters, dispatches, and documents which had a
bearing en the battle. The Japanese were cooperative and research of the
Japanese side was almost as canplete as the .American side. The secmd
year was spent in writing the factual account as available to each tactical
ccmmander and then playing the scenario out on a very large gameboard. As
the battle progressed m the gameboard, a third narrative was written by
the department head, Canmodore R. W. Bates, later Rear Admiral. He had
been chief of staff to Vice Admiral J.uB. Oldendorf, later Admiral, at
the battle of Surigao Strait. The old battleships, which had been resurrected
after the Pearl Harbor attack, capped the "T" of the oncoming Japanese
force during the night action and virtually destroyed it. Only me Japanese
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ship survived that acticn. The Surigao Strait battle was one phase of the
Battle of Leyte Gulf and was the second battle to be researched by our group.
A third year was required to canplete the ccnfidential publication of
"Battle Lessons of World War II--Midway." It was subsequently made into a
three-hour movie. At the end of my first year as an instructor in the
Department of Strategy and Tactics, I was transferred to the Research
Departrrent and put in charge of the American team researching Midway and
given the assignment of writing the narrative for the .American side. That
narrative is amcng the papers turned over to the E. C. U. Manuscript
Collection along with the canplete finished volume in paperback. Several
years later when I had duty in the Pentagon, the scenario for the movie
to be made from that study was given to me to review.
During the winter of my third year at the Naval War College, I began
to experience pain in my left hip when I walked and the length of my stride
was shorter. As time went oo and the pain became worse, I again took
leave and went to the Lahey Clinic in Boston for a thorough check-up.
There it was learned that the femur in the socket of my left hip had become
decalcified and it was feared that the leg would be shortened if I did not
get off of it. Toe Lahey Clinic was never able to make a diagnosis of the
cause, but I took their report to the Naval Hospital in Newport and turned
in. They put me in traction with a fifteen pound weight attached to my
left leg. After thirty days of this treatment, the x-rays began to show
that the process of decalcification was reversing. So they took me out of
traction and allowed me to walk on crutches for another thirty days. As
the bcne continued to improve, they gave me a cane for thirty days after
which x-rays showed the bone structure to be normal. No one has ever been
able to explain either the cause or the reason for the reversal in the
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67
decalcification process. All the doctors agreed en was that I was a mighty
lucky fellow. During my stay in the hospital, Admiral Spruance dropped
by to see me several times. Also my good friend Rear Admiral Charles R.
"Cat" Brown, who had become chief of staff to Admiral Spruance, came to
visit me.
At the outbreak of World War II, Mr. Frank Knox was Secretary of the
Navy. He had been the former manager of the Hearst publications and was
publisher of the Chicago Daily News. He was also a public relationsminded
politician. He made an early decision, after becaning Secretary of
Navy, to give complete coverage to the naval aspects of World War II.
Accordingly, he called in Mr. Edward Steichen, the nation's foremost photographer,
and gave him the responsibility of cmducting the photographic
coverage of the naval war. He also gave him the resources with which to
do it. He made sure that ships going into combat had photographers and
camera e.quipment aboard. Many planes, including fighter planes, had
cameras in their tails--even those on carriers. The responsibility for
coverage of the historical aspect of the naval war was given to a history
professor--Sarnuel Eliot Morison of Harvard University. He was and still
is the nation's foremost historian and canpiled fifteen volumes covering
World War II. He is now a Rear Admiral in the U. S. Naval Reserve. He
also won a Pulitzer Prize for his Columbus, Captain of the Seven Seas.
Professor Morisoo established his headquarters at the Naval War College,
Newport, Rhode Island. This was dcne, presumably, to take advantage of the
war diaries on microfilm which had been assEmbled there. Professor Morison
had a small staff to do research for him. Members of his staff made trips
to Japan to interview high ranking Japanese naval officers who had held top
comnand and other Japanese officials. He coordinated his writing with our
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research department and frequently came in to observe the gameboard and
discuss aspects of the Battle of Midway with us. He was a stickler for
factual reporting and I have known him to argue for hours as the "devil's
advocate" before he would accept a point as fact. We also benefited fran
his research, particularly fran his staff's interviews with high ranking
Japanese naval officers and officials. One of his principal assistants
was a young historian named Henry Solanm. A few years later when I was
oo duty at the Pentagon, I ran into Professor Morison at the Army-Navy
Town Club. We stopped for a chat. He was so upset that he was almost
vehement. He told me that Henry Solanon had taken the material he had
assembled for his fifteen volumes of history and sold it to NBC, much of
which was used :in the TV series of Victory at Sea--some fifteen in all.
When I later saw all of those TV serials, I noticed that the credit line
showed Henry Solomon as producer. Little wonder that Professor Morison was
such a frustrated manu.
[Well, Morison wasn't able to take any action against Solorron on this?]
This I dm't know. I doubt that the material had been copyrighted
at that point.
[Wasn't Solomon on the Federal Government payroll?]
Well, I dm't know what the arrangement was between Frank Knox and
Professor Morison. Moriscn was employed by Harvard University and was
on leave of absence. He wrote the history en his own and he copyrighted
it under his name. I doubt if Solomon was on the government payroll.
imagine there was a contract between Morison and the government. He
probably was on Morism's payroll as part of Harvard University's deal or
Morison's personal deal since he copyrighted the history.
[In connection with your research, what type of records did you have
access to in doing the background research for these "battle lessms"
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that you were doing at the Naval War College" Did you have access to the
confidential government records?]
Yes, we did. In fact the whole study of Midway was classified confidential.
We had all the war diaries of all the ships and other pertinent
data. Since Admiral Spruance was the tactical commander, there would
have been no problem in getting from the Navy Department whatever informaticn
that was available of a ccnfidential classification that would have
a bearing on it. If there was sanething secret, it would have probably
been withheld, but since cur study was of a ccnfidential nature I imagine
that nothing very pertinent would have been withheld fran us. We might
have been given secret documentation that was given to us to read as background
material and then returned and not quoted.
[That was so soon after the war. It's only in the last few years
that most of the World War II records have been declassified. There are
still a few things that are not declassified yet.u]
This study of Midway began the first year after the war.
[Was Morison allowed to include your confidential reports in his
books?]
Well, a lot of the thinking in Morison's head that came from Morison
per se in his history was evolved as a result of looking on the gameboard
and talking with us, but it was declassified. Naturally there was a free
exchange of thought there, so it's hard to say -where the cutoff came.
His documents were unclassified and ours were classified.
[Did the government have to approve his finished histories before
they were published?]
I don't know whether there was any censorship of his histories or
not. He was a pretty big man and the war was over. I :i.mag:ine as a
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matter of courtesy though, that it was sent to them before he sent it to
the printers. I'm not privy to that sort of informaticn.
In looking back on my three years at the War College after a lapse of
more than thirty years, one may ask what were the things that you learned
there which you consider to have been of enduring value to you. The
answer: I think it was probably the series of lectures given by outstanding
speakers who talked en the problems affecting the national interest and
the naticnal security. The speakers were the most knowledgeable in their
field and the scope of subjects covered a wide range. We were exposed to
both sides of issues thereby permitting us to make rur own judgements.
One particular subject that was explored in depth by our speakers was
the psychology of the Soviet mentality and the history and methods employed
by the Canrmmist apparatus. One speaker, who was invited to speak on that
subject every year that I was there, was a Latvian who had fled his country
when the Soviets took it over. He was a professor of history at Smith
College and perhaps the most knowledgeable man in the United States at
that time.on the subject. I'm sorry that I do not recall his name at this
time. I recall vividly his thesis, however. It may be stated simply as
follows: the Soviets probe continuously throughout the world like the
fencer seeking a weak spot in his opponent's defense. When his rapier
meets resistance, it is withdrawn. When it finds a soft spot, it is driven
home to the hilt. The only thing that they understand and respect is force.
They review weakness with ccntempt. Any promise or treaty is made only to
be broken if their national interest is served thereby. In a later evaluation,
we learned that the Soviets had violated 24 of the then existing 25
treaties into which they had entered. Their intelligence apparatus is the
best in the world and their method of world danination, in addition to the
use of force, is infiltration into all forms of public media--news, radio,
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televisiono, the schools, the pulpit, the colleges, and a large number of
subversive organizations all indicating peaceful :intento.
On the other side of this issue, we had natiooally known speakers who
were advisors to the State Department on international affairso. I remember
one in particular who was thm a principal advisor on Chinese affairs dur:ing
the period that General George Marshall was Secretary of State. At tmt
time Chiang Kai-shek had driven the Communist forces under Mao Tse-tung
into the northwestern province of China and was in th?? process of annihilating
them. The speaker was Gwen Lattimore and he was singing the praises of
Mao Tse-tung. During the question period, he was as slippery as an eel.
I asked him a direct questicn in an attempt to smoke him outo. It waso:
"Is Mao Tse-tung a C.Ommmist?" The answer came back, "He is a simple agrarian
farmero." It was such advice as that from Gwen Lattimore and a nwnber of
others in advisory positions at the State Department that was being fed to
General Marshall when he was Secretary of Stateo. OWen Lattirrore was also
head of the Institute of Pacific Relationso.
The following quotaticns from Senator Barry M. Goldwater's book,
With No Apologieso, which was a recent national bestseller, are pertinent to
this situationo. On page 52 of that book I quote the following:
In 1945 the FBI raided the magazine office [Institute of
Pacific Relations] :in New York City and recovered some 1700
secret and top-secret documents obviously stolen or given to
the magazine by some traitor in the State Departmento. OWen
Lattimore, the academic who headed IPR [Institute of Pacific
Reolatiooso] was judged to be a top Soviet espionage agento.
Again on page 126 of the same book I quote Senator Goldwatero:
In 1951 and 1952 the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee under
the chairmanship of Pat McCarran (oD-Nev.)o, ccnducted a lengthy investigation
into the activities of the Institute of Pacific Relaticns.
The establishrrent of a communist government :in China had destroyed
American prestige throughout Asia. Tre Corrmi.ttee concluded that
the American policy decisims which helped establish the communist
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control of China were made by IPR officials who were traitors or
were under the influence of traitors whose allegiance lay in
Moscowa.
Again in another paragraph en page 126 I quotea:
Professor Gwen Lattimorea, who headed IPR, when it was so
influential in determining American policy in the Far East, was
termed a "Consciousa, articulate instrument of the Soviet :i.nterna
tiona 1 conspiracy." Additionally, the canmi ttee named other highly
placed members of the IPR--Lauchlin Curry, Alger Hiss, Joseph Barnes,
Phillip Jessupa, and Harry Dexter White--as Soviet sympathizers or
perhaps Soviet agent's agents.
History records that with a stroke of the pen by General Marshall , then
Secretary of Statea, logistic support was withdrawn fran Chiang Kai-stek and
he was forced to deactivate forty Chinese divisions at a time when the
forces of Mao were about to be destroyeda. The result was thlt Mao made a
comeback and drove Chiang and his forces off the mainland into Formosa and
all of mainland China was lost to Canmmism. The natimal outcry was so
great that Lattimore and his co-wrokers in the State Department--Mra. fuow
and Mr. Service--were forced out of the State Department and denied security
clearancea.
Owen Lattimore took a position as professor of Far Eastern Affairs at
Jolns Hopk:ins University in Baltimore and Messrsa. fuow and Service wrote a
book en Chinaa.
Who was the president of Jotns Hopkins University? Dra. Milton Eisenhowera,
brother of Ike.
In my opinion, the policy of the State Department then was one of
appeasement and has been ever sincea. Today we are permitt:ing a Soviet
submarine base to be expanded in Cienfuegosa, iliba, without even a
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protest. Also there is a combat brigade there. We protested and then let
it die down when the Soviets igpored it.
Another of our speakers was Secretary of Defense Jarres Forrestal.
He told us the purpose of his organization was: "To coordinate the activities
and budget requirements of the other services.u" At that time the
composition of his staff, as he stated from the platform, cmsisted of a
total of forty people including his mess attendants. Today they number
in the thousands and there are probably more assistant secretaries of
defense than you can count m two hands. Time was when the Secretary of
War and the Secretary of the Navy could have the president's ear for the
asking. Now not even the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has that
privilege. Layer upon layer of civilian cmtrol has been imposed on the
military. They have been throttled in so far as the active duty personnel
are cmcemed, but 2530 retired admirals and generals have protested
against Salt II along with 204 members of Congress and 106 natimal organizations.
They have signed a petition addressed to all 100 Senators
denouncing Salt II in stroog terms. I had a. letter from John Fisher,
President of the Naticnal Security Council, advising that ooly four of
those generals and admirals ccntacted in ccnnection with the petition
failed to sigri. That should tell somebody something, but enough of this
for the moment.
Before leaving the War College, I was invited by a friend on duty
there to go with him to New York City and attend the annual meeting of
the Naval Industrial Association. It later became the Naticnal Security
Industrial Association. That organization was headquartered in Washingtm,
D. C., and consisted of about 500 large industrial firms who either had
contracts with the Navy or were seeking them. The Washington headquarters
represented their interests and each company designated cne or mre of its
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73
executives to represent the company with the Association. The friend
who invited me to go was Commander Onnie Lattu, USN Supply Corp, later
rear admiral. He was an up and caning young supply officer. It was customary
for members of the Association to invite influential Naval officers
as their guests to their annual banquet. The banquet was held at the
Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. The corr.pany that invited us occupied a
large balcony area overlooking the main floor similar to a box in a theatre.
Drinks were served before dinner and the top executives of the companies
attended. The Waldorf served a piping hot meal to some 500 guests within
a few minutes. There was probably no other hotel in the country that
could have pulled it off as well as they did at that time. The principal
speaker was Mr. Jorn L. Sullivan, then Secretary of the Navy. Much of
his talk was devoted to the new organizatim of the Secretary of Defense.
He had great respect for Mr. Forrestal and was amazed at the ama.mt of
work he was performing and sorrewhat concerned for his health, as I recall.
He stated that he was working foor secretaries almost to a state of exhaustion.
It was not 1mg thereafter that he suffered a mental breakdown,
was hospitalized at the Naval Medical Center at Bethseda, and finally
jumped from a seventeenth story window to his death.
I knew Mr. Forrestal and I've always been one of his greatest admirers.
I own a copy of "The Forrestal Diaries.u" In those diaries he developed
the position that the U.uS. is backing the wrmg horse in the Israeli-
Arab dispute. He points out that the Arabs by virtue of their oil reserves
control the key to our industrial survival and it's in our naticnal interests
to stay on their side, politics not withstanding. His voice was a voice
crying in the wilderness. Not so now. Some of our speakers covered the
Middle East situation in detail with particular emphasis on the oil
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situation. I recall a particularly outstanding talk made by Navy Captain
Kelly who was sent to the Middle East as a special representative of the
Secretary of the Navy and spent some time studying the overall situation
there. I had the feeling after reading "The Forrestal Diaries" that Mr.
Forrestal was the moving force behind Captain Kelly's survey.
As I previously men ticned , my lmgtime friend and classmate Rear
Admiral Charles R. "Cat" Brown had become Chief of Staff to Admiral Spruance
at the War College. One of the outstanding innovations made to the curricula
was to convene a seminar near the end of the academic year to discuss an
agenda that would be worldwide in scope and cover the most serious problems
facing the nation and our Navy's future. To this seminar were invited the
top flight leaders in the govemrrent--both civilian and military--the top
executives in industry, and important members of the public media, science,
and education. Invited guests included a broad spectrum of Who's Who.
The guests and members of the War College staff and students were designated
by groups to study and draw up cmclusions on the various topics on the
agenda. After a couple of days of such deliberatims, all groups would
come together and hold a critique en the topics under discussion. At the
critique, there were no holds barred and each conclusim . was debated from
the floor. A sample of invited @.lests included General Eisenhower, General
Sarnoff of RCA, the assistant secretaries of the Navy, industrialists,
and educators. Some of the best minds in the naticn were focused on the
major problem of the Navy's future.
Another aspect of the seminar was the policy of having me staff
member assigned to each guest. to provide companionship, recreation, and
housing if desired. My guest was James R. (Jim) Shepley. He was then
Washington correspondent for Time magazine and he is now president of Time,
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Inc. His hobby was fishing and relaxing over a highball. I indulged him
on both counts. He was a most interesting person and I enjoyed talking to
him about Wash:ington politics and natimal affairs during the hours we
spent together 01 the fishing bank and over cocktails. Those annual seminars
have continued at the Naval War College up to the present time.
My three-year tour at the Naval War College was now approaching an
end and I would soon be getting orders to my new assignment. The War
Colleg;e experience had been an interesting one. I had already served more
time at sea than any other member of my Naval Academy class and had
recently conmanded two carriers so I felt sure that my next tour would be
shore duty. Newport was and still is a unique city. On a summer cruise
in 1925 during my midshipmen years, our ships put :into Newport and we were
entertained lavishly at an afternoon tea-dance by Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbuilt
and her lovely daughter Consuela, about 19 years old. Their lovely home,
"The Breakers," was the setting and the party was the highlight of our
cruise. Newport then was already in decline. By 1949 when my tour was up,
it was a depressing place. There's probably no place in the world where
so rruch grandeur and opulence in the form of many mansions of Newport
were allowed to go to waste. "The Breakers" is now a tourist attraction
alcng with several others, but for the most part the many wmderful hanes
have been vacated and fallen into decay. The land m which they are
situated is worth more when cleared. I recall going through me of them
on display as a tourist attracticn and learned that there were 26 bedrooms
in the servants quarters alme. There were still a few families trying
to hang m, but the whole scenario was a depressing one and stil 1 is. The
tycoons during the days of the "robber baroos" vied ammg themselves to
build bigger and better "elephants.u" Canpared to Newport, Jekyll Island
produced only a small group of mice.
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By March, 1949, my three years were caning to an end and I was curious
to know what my next duty would be. I was ready to rove on to something
new and I hoped it would be more active than my last year had been in
writing a history of World War II. The answer was not long in forthcaning.
My orders called for my detachment at the end of the academic year in June
and gave me command of the "Fleet Logistic Airwing, Atlantic" with headquarters
at the Naval Air Staticn Patuxent River, Maryland. It was a job
in which I had had no previous experience and presented me with quite a
challengeu.
You have asked me if we had researched the Battle of Leyte Gulf
while I was in the research and analysis section at the War College, and
if so, would I like to comment. The answer to both questims is yes.
The central Japanese force was sighted by our picket submarine DARTER
during the night of 22-23 October. Its composition, course, and speed
were fully reported. It was headed for San Bernadina Strait. Admiral
Kurita was the canmander. His flagship was a cruiser. The force consisted
of 32 ships--battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. The DARTER
and another picket submarine, the DACE, trailed during the night and
attacked at daybreak on the twenty-third. Two heavy cruisers, including
Admiral Kurita's flagship, were sunk and another put out of acticn and
left dead in the water. Admiral Kurita and his staff had to swim for their
lives. They were picked up by a destroyer and he broke his flag in the
super battleship Y??TO. During daylight hours en the twenty-fourth
Halsey struck with all the fury of which his three fast carrier grrups
were capable. A total of five strikes were made in daylight hours against
that central force. Before dark, Kurita's force had reversed course.
That fact together with pilot reports, which may have been somewhat
exaggeratedu, led Halsey to believe that the force had been defeated and
had turned tail. As a matter of factu, half of Kurita's force had been
sunk or put rut of action. Shortly thereafteru, the Japanese carrier force
was sighted to the north. Halsey made a decision to go after the carriers,
based upon the knowledge then available, with his entire force. After
dark, Kurita again reversed course and began the transit of San Bernadine
Strait. As I recall, about 16 of the original force of 32 ships came
through the strait the next morning and ran into six escort carriers-"
jeep" carriers we called them--with their escorts under the command of
Rear Admiral C. A. F. "Ziggy" Sprague, whan I knew very well. Admiral
Kurita didn't know what he was running into. His lookouts frantically
reported all types of ships--battleships, heavy cruisers, light cruisers,
destroyers, destroyer escorts, carriers, etc. He thought he had cane upcn
Halsey's forceu. "Ziggy" ordered his escorts and carriers to make smoke and
his carriers to disperse and seek cover in the rain squalls after launching
all their aircraft. He ordered his escorts, both destroyers and destroyer
escorts to deliver torpedo attacks against the heavy ships. All planes
had been launched. Sorre of them arrived from Combat Air Patrol over
Leyte Gulf without bombs and arrmunition. They made passes on Kurita's
ships nevertheless in order to confuse him. There was complete confusion
on both sides. Kurita ordered general attack after the jeep carriers
dispersed. That meant that each Jap ship was to seek out his own prey.
It was like hrunds running after rabbits. During the meleeu, two of "Ziggy's"
destroyers, one of his escort carriers, and cne of his destroyer escorts
were sunk. All CVE's were damaged. The action was spread over about 40
square miles. When Kurita decided to assemble his force, the situation
had gotten completely out of cmtrolu. The assembling of his force took
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about three hours. After forming it up, it was about 1 p.m.; he decided
to head back through San Bernad:ino Strait. He did not enter Leyte Gulf.
He had had enough. The Jap Navy never again put to sea. In the criticisms
I have heard from all those Mmday rnorn:ing quarterbacks, they all "knew"
that the carrier force was a decoy force. As a matter of fact, no American
knew that until the battle was all over and it had been studied in detail.
In the original Jap-operation plan the carrier force was the major attack
force. The original plan had to be modified to make the carrier force a
decoy force mly after Halsey had destroyed most of the carrier air groups
when they were based on Formosa two weeks before, and Halsey had worked
them over for a whole week shortly before the Battle of Leyte Gulf took
place. Halsey did not know, of course, that those carrier air forces had
been based on Forrrosa. The Jap carriers had cane down fran Japan and
no me had suspected that their air groups had been stationed on Forrrosa.
The destruction of those carrier task air groups was unknown to any Arrerican.
However, all the kibitzers appear to have known all along that the carrier
force was a decoy force. During the strikes en the twenty-fourth, Halsey
lost the carrier PRINCETON from Jap air attacks by planes based on the Jap
Air Field on Luzon. Throughout the war, the carriers had always been the
Number 1 target. He had no reason to think otherwise now. The fact that
carrier planes could use fields m Luzm made them doubly dangerous and
would permit the launching at wch greater distances. In fact, they could
be able to shuttle from carrier to land base and back to carrier, and the
carriers could rraybe even launch and then retire, if necessary, beyond the
range of our attack carriers. He was out to get them. The Battle of
Leyte Gulf was the largest naval acticn in the history of the world in so
far as the men and forces that were engaged. Midway was larger in men
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and forces, but many of the ships did not engage. The U.uS. A. scored a
resotmding victory. The three U.uS. commnders who fought the battle were
Admiral Halsey, Vice-Admiral Oldendorf, and Rear Admiral "Ziggy" Sprague.
To them and those who fought tmder them, the natim deserves a debt of
gratitude. Let us give credit where credit is due for that great victory
and not indulge in fantasizing as to what might have been if saneone had
done sorr.ething differently, because no one knows what might have been the
outcane.
[Morison is me of the ones pri:rrarily respcnsible for that criticism,
isn't he?]
He is. It's a valid criticism, but you have got to put yourself in
the posi tim of the corrmander where informatim is always meagre and often
inaccurate and he has to base his final decision on a gut feeling. It
is easy to sit back when all the records are in m Monday morning and say
what I would have done if I had been there. You just cannot substitute
one for the other.
When we departed Newport in June for Patuxent River, Maryland, with
son Bill, aged four, Bette was seven mcnths pregnant. On our journey
south, we stopped in Philadelphia to see Bette's family. Her rrother had
been bedridden for several years with nurses around the clock and her body
had literally turned to stme as a result of rrultiple sclerosis. We knew
that she did not have 1mg to live. That visit was to be our last before
she died. About a month after our arrival at Patuxent River, the word carre.
Upcn the doctor's advice, Bette did not go to the funeral, but I went to
Philadelphia and represented heru.
At Patuxent River, Bette was in for a pleasant surprise. Our quarters,
W, assigned by the Secretary of the Navy to the Canmander of Fleet Logistic
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Air Wing Atlantic, were a delight. The house was located in a grorve of
tall trees with a large green lawn by a white sandy beach on Chesapeake
Bay. On the map, it was called Blount Point or Cedar Point and is at the
confluence of the Patuxent River and Chesapeake Bay. The Bay is widest
at that point and ooly on a clear day could you see land oo the Eastern
Shore. The original part of the house in which we lived had been built
in 1683. It was the manor house of a large plantation. Additional rooms
had been added in later years and these were the only modern rooms in the
house. They were next to the kitchen and used as servants' quarters. The
Navy also provided us with an enlisted cook and we had a fulltime nurse
who lived with us. Our large living room overlooking the Bay had a fireplace
in each end. Undoubtedly at cne tire there had been two rooms
instead of one, but the partition had been removed. The fishing and
crabbing just off cur beach were excellent. I had gone to Patuxent River
about a mmth before my detachnent from the War College to cmfer with
Captain Frank Corbin, a classmate at the Naval Academy, whom I was to
relieve. I'd seen the setup there, but it all came as a surprise to Bette
and it helped take her m:i.nd off of her mother's critical state. She
adored her mother.
The Naval Air Statim at Patuxent River, Maryland, covered an area of
several thousand acres. There were three other separate canmands based
there. The first of these comnanding officers was Canmanding Officer of the
Naval Air Statim whose responsibility cmsisted principally of providing
services to the other three comnands based there. He reported to the
Commmdant of the Fifth Naval District. Second was the Commander of the
Naval Air Test Center, a flag officer's billet who reported to the Chief
of the Bureau of Aeronautics. He was the senior officer on the statim.
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The cannE11d was an extensive one and re had the responsibility of the
testing of all new Naval aircraft to see that specificaticns were met
prior to acceptance. The third officer was the Corrmander Fleet Logistic
Air Wing, Atlantic who had the respcnsibility of providing air transport
services to the shore establishment east of the Mississippi and to the
Atlantic fleet in the North European and Mediterranean area. He reported
to Canmander Aircraft Atlantic Fleet for Administrative Control and to the
Chief of Naval Operation for Operaticnal Cootrol. The chain of corrmand
was via the deputy chief of the Naval Operations for Air. The fourth commander
was the Canmmder Fleet Air Detachment and he was the senior officer
of the fleet units or squadrcns based there and reported to Corrmander
Aircraft Atlantic. I had that added respoosibility while Comrr.ander of
Fleet Logistic Air Wing, Atlantic. For most of the year there was a squadron
of specially equipped planes used to track hurricanes based there also.
During the hurricane season of July to November they were based at Miami.
Their job was to fly through the eye of hurricanes to keep track of them
and report.
The Canmander of Naval Air Test Center, Rear Admiral Malcolm Schoeffel,
was the senior officer on the base. When he was relieved by Captain
Frederick Trapnell, he became Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance. Admiral
Schoeffel was from Scrantcn, Pemsylvania. When Bette learned that, she
asked him if he had ever known her grandfather, Ccngressman John R. Farr
who represented the Scranton, Pennsylvania district. Admiral Schoeffel
replied, "He appointed me to the Naval Academy." We became close friends.
The commanding officer of the Air Station was Captain C. L. "Chink"
Lee, class of 1924 at the Naval Academy where he roomed with my cousin
Midshipman William Ashford Caldwell. He was my first "spoon" when I was a
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plebe. Bill Caldwell was the reasm for my leaving the University of
Georgia and entering the Naval Academy. It came about this way: In 1922,
his younger brother, Howell, was a student at the University of Georgia
with me and lived in my horre. He was also my fraternity brother--Kappa
Alpha. He invited me to spend Christmas holidays with him and said that
his brother Bill would be home. I accepted and we had a ball tooting
around Atlanta for several days during the Christmas vacatim. During
that visit, Bill rekindled my interest in the Naval Academy and I made the
decision to try again for an appointment. I had received an alternate
appointment when I was a senior in high school. Their home was antebellum
and located at Ashford Park on Peachtree Road between Buckhead and Chamblee,
Georgia. It was a flag stop on the Seaboard Airline Railroad. Their hcuse
named "Southlook" is featured in the book written by Medora Field Perkerson
called White Columns of Georgia. She states that General Sherman and his
staff occupied "Scuthlook" during the campaign of Atlanta. "Southlook"
is now the Peachtree Golf Club and the old slaves' quarters are used as
the golf pro shop. The house was built in 1852. The walls of brick
construction are eighteen inches thick. The bricks were b.lilt by slave
labor. In 1903 it was acquired by my great uncle, William T. Ashford.
He and his two brothers were in the same artillery platoon and fought in
the Army of Virginia and they are one of the few groups who never surrendered
to Grant. It came about this way: They were a detached unit and they
received word that Lee would be surrendering the next day. They were told
to sabotage their guns and to report, if they could get through enemy lines
as they were then surrounded, to Lincolnton, N. C. The three brothers
plus a couple of friends from their hometown, Watkinsville, Georgia,
succeeded in rolling their artillery into a nearby river after rerrnving
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the breechplug. They got through the enemy line and did report to Lincolnton,
N. C. When they got there, they found nobody to report to so they walked
home. After the war, he settled in Atlanta and used his sav:ings to buy
farmland along Peachtree Road. He donated the land which now corr.prises
the carr:pus of Oglethorpe University. In his will he left $56,000,000 to
the Shriners' Crippled Children Hospital in Atlanta. The city of Atlanta
honored him by naming the Ashford Dunwoody Road in his honor.
There were about thirty members of my staff located in the headquarters
at Patuxent River. My chief staff officer was Captain A. H. "Jock" Wilsm,
Jr. , and my opera ti ens officer was Corrmander J. C. "Larry" Lawrence. Both
had outstanding records. "Jock" was not a Naval aviator, but he was a
tower of strength in administrative matters.
The Fleet Logistic Air Wings were spin-offs from the Naval Air Transport
System formed during the war by Rear Admiral J. W. "Blackjack" Reeves, Jr.,
and expanded to provide air logistic support to all the services worldwide.
When the Army Air Corp becarre the U.uS. Air Force after the war, they
tried to take over the Naval Air Transport System (NATS) intact. The Navy
made their case to retain a sufficient number of transport planes to meet
its own needs and that portion of the transport planes that did not go to
form the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) under the Air Force were
incorporated into the Fleet Logistic Air Wings Atlantic and Pacific.
Captain Marshall Gurney who had been Chief of Staff to Rear Admiral
"Blackjack" Reeves became Conmander of Fleet Logistic Air Wings. I
reported to Captain Gurney while in canmand of the Atlantic Wing. His
headquarters were located at the Naval Air Station Moffett Field, Sunnyvale,
California. The squadrons in the Pacific Wing came directly under his
operational control. MATS contained many more planes than "FLOGWINGS,"
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the abbreviated name for Fleet Logistic Air Wings. It was canmanded by
Lieutenant General Kater of the Air Force and his chief of staff was a
Navy captain--a Naval aviator. MATS provided service worldwide just as
NATS had done. The politics being what it was, the Navy was lucky to
come off as well as it did by getting FLOGWINGS cmsisting of ten squadrons
operating from the Philippines to the eastern Mediterranean. The decision
made in the Arred Forces committee to deactivate NATS and set up MATS was
bitterly contested by the Navy. Rear Admiral "Blackjack" Reeves made a
masterful presentation before that corrmittee setting forth the reasons why
the world's largest air transport system and probably the most efficient
one ever established should not be broken up. Pan-American, then the
world's largest corrmercial airline, operated as an integral unit within
the NATS system as I have described earlier. The newly formed Air Force
was determined to set up MATS and they garnered sufficient votes so the
deed was done. The Air Force was unhappy over not getting it all and were
to come back later and take more.
The efficiency of an airline is measured by the load factor and the
usage rate of the planes-that is by the weight and volume of plane cargo
per trip flown and the number of hours flown per plane per month. A look
at those statistics showed that the efficiency of our airlift was very
low, so I began to look for the reasons. They were not long in forthcoming.
Requests for airlifts were caning in from many sources to my headquarters,
the squadrcn canrr0nders, and smaller tmits which were widely separated.
Too many requests for air transportation were being turned down which could
have been granted had they been processed through a central clearing
house. Accordingly I set up in my headquarters such a central clearing
house and put a staff officer in charge and gave him the title of Air
Logistic Coordinator (ALCOR)u. Only a few scheduled routes were being
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flown. After making a survey of the traffic volumeu, I scheduled routine
flights between points that would handle the major traffic loads. These
schedules along with the information on ALCOR were published and disseminated
throughout the area being served. Realizing that it would take
some time for the new procedure to become effective, I also issued an order
to all squadron and unit corrmanders that no legitimate request for air
transport would be turned down by anyone except me. If they were unable
to grant a request, it should be referred to ALC0R. The upsurge in plane
usage was surprising and many letters of appreciation concerning improved
service were received.
The Naval Air Station Patuxent River was about forty miles from
Washingtm, D. C., where the nearest large hospital was located. There
was a well-equipped infirmary on the station and most of the wives
statimed there had their babies in the infirmary. The station had excellent
doctors and the delivery business was brisk. Bette said she wanted
to go there, too , when her time came for our second child. By 06: 30 on
the morning 13 August, she woke me and said she felt her pains coming m.
We got upu, dressed, and checked in at the infirmary. She was put in a private
room and the doctor told me to sit there by her bedside with a watch
and to tire the interval between labor pains, When the gap closed to a
specified number of minutes, I was to let the nurse know. I sat down beside
the bed, pulled out my watch, and it seemed that I was there only about
five or ten minutes before the interval closed to that specified. I called
in the nurse and gave her the word. They wheeled Bette into the delivery
room and I cooled my heels in the anteroom. It seemed like I'd been there
no more than 15 or 20 minutes before the nurse came by with a newborn
baby. She showed the infant to me and said, "It's a beautiful big boy and
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your wife is fine." In a couple of days, Bette was back in our quarters
and life ccn tinued as before.
The Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean did not have a home port. All
fueling and replenishment was carried out while underway at sea. The
ships were ccnstantly on the move in a circuit around the Mediterranean;
and since a tour of duty :in the "Med" normally lasted four to five months
and sorretirres longer, mail delivery to Sixth Fleet personnel was a problem-a
morale factor. It was decided by the high canmand that something should
be daie about it. The answer was to have first class mail flown to the
carriers and then distributed to smaller ships by the carrier helicopters.
The procedure was terned "carrier mboard delivery"--C.O.D. for short.
The task of getting the mail to the carriers was given to FLOGWING;uAtlantic.
We set up scheduled flights fran Patuxen t River to the Naval Air Station
Port Lyautey in Morocco, North Africa. From there mail was flown to the
carriers wherever they might be :in the Mediterranean using Navy carrier
torpedo planes. Those planes had a crew of three and the belly which had
carried torpedoes during the war was cmverted to carry mail. The project
was an immediate success and has been :in effect since. I didn't realize
what a great morale factor C.O.D. was for the personnel of the Sixth Fleet
until later when I was commander of the U. s. S. MIDWAY in the Mediterranean
covering an eight rronth's tour. Small units of FLOGWING, Atlantic had
previously been set up at the u. S. Naval Air Station Argentia, Newfoundland
and at an airport outside of Lmdon, England. CinCNELM's headquarters were
in London and that unit met his requirements for air transport also. The
schedule for Port Lyautey flights were linked to those units. With the
increase in requirerrents for air transport by the Sixth Fleet and CihCNELM,
it became necessary to set up another ALCOR at Port Lyautey and that was
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done. I sent the executive officer, a VRl based at the Naval Air Statim
Patuxent River, Canrnander James "Jimmy" Smith out to handle that job.
The CO at NAS Port Lyautey at that time was a classmate and old
hunting companion of mine, Captain Thurston B. Clark, later a rear admiral.
He owned a home near the Naval Air Station Patuxent River and when he
returned, we used to hunt quail together. He always had fine bird dogs
which he had trained himself. Thurston was the younger brother of Jerry
Clark who became personal pilot and aviation advisor to Chiang Kai-shek
as I have mentioned previously.
At the Naval Air Station Patuxent River there was a squadron of ten
Lockheed four-engine Constellation planes especially configured to Navy's
specifications. They were used exclusively to carry high-ranking government
officials, both civilian and military, any place in the world. They
were equipped with a special VIP canpartment that had a capacity for 17
persons including 12 bunks. The crew included a cook and a steward and
the gangway was electrically operated. They were plush indeed. The crews
were rotated in order to give them worldwide experience. When the Congress
adjourned or was in recess, business was brisk with flying members of
Congress all over the world on their junkets. Those planes were kept at
Patuxent River under wraps. I recall one instance when a Senatorial
committee was on a trip to Asia. Shortly thereafter, a camnittee fran the
House of Representatives called up a plane for a trip to Guam and the
Philippines. After completing their visit to Guam and with their plane
en route to the Philippines, they learned that the Senate Canmittee which
preceeded them had decided to continue on around the world touching at
Indochina, Malaysia, India, Africa, and Europe. The House Canmittee took
a vote and decided that they would not be outdme and that they too would
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go on around the world. It was mly a short time after their vote that
one of the plane's engines caught fire and the pilot turned back to Guam.
They called for another vote. That vote cancelled the plan to continue
around the world. .Another plane operating within the canmand was the
CONSTITUTION, also built by Lockheed. It had two decks, frur of the most
powerful engines then being built, and carried more passengers than any
other land plane. It was an experimental plane. Juan Terry Trippe, the
president of Pan American Airlines, had persuaded President Franklin
Delano Roosevelt to have the government put up $30,000,000 to build and
test it as a prototype for commercial airlines. It was a monster and
gave us no end of trouble. The crew was specially trained and the plane
corranander was Canmander William N. "Bill" Collins, Jr. That plane was also
employed in the VIP Airlift m occasion. I recall an instance when it
transported a large group of officials to a conference in Puerto Rico. It
had problems prior to take-off which caused a lcng delay and all the
passengers were waiting. Finally it took off from Pax River and arrived
m San Juan. Prior to return, one of the engines became inoperative and
the passengers shifted to other FLOGWING planes. When word came that an
engine change was necessary, I was faced with the decision whether or not
to let the plane return empty on three engines or to keep it gramded for
a long period of time. Bill Collins pressed hard for return on three engmes.
I was against the idea mitially, but I finally agreed. The plane got back
to Pax River safely. It was put in service between San Diego and San
Francisco for some time thereafter. Finally it was surveyed and the whole
project that cost them more than $30,000,000 was scrapped. Trippe had sold
F. D.uR. a lemon.
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Drew Pearson in his syndicated column was continually digging up and
writing about abuses of government owned air transport by VIP's, both
civilian and military. It was his pet peeve and his right-hand mm, Jack
Anderson, was always probing to see what he could tum up. That was one
reason our squadron of VIP planes was kept under wraps at Pax River. My
boss, Captain Marsh Gurney, Commander FLOGWINGS, was an ardent supporter
of the Naval Academy's football team and at times he would stop over, when
embarked as a passenger on a FLOGWING flight, to see a Navy game when the
team was on a road trip. Drew Pearson picked up that scent and featured
Marsh in me of his colurrns. It seemed that Marsh had a good explanation,
but when Pearson featured him in a secmd and third article, the Navy's
"High Command" became nervous and called me to Washington for a meet:ing.
It was short and to the po:int. The question was: How soon can you relieve
Marsh Gurney as commander of FLOG WINGS? I thought for a moment. I'd made
a visit to his headquarters at Moffett Field soon after taking canmand of
the Atlantic Wing, and had been well briefed on the Pacific Wing's
operations during that visit and felt that further briefing would be
unnecessary. My answer was, "I can relieve him torrorrow.u" They gave me a
green light and I left. I made a call to Marsh Gurney when I got back
to Pax River and we arranged to have a comnand turnover ceremony by telephme
using loud speakers to amplify the sound to our assembled staffs
and squadrm persoonel. I read my orders and he read his. Each of us
made a little speech. I know of no other instance when a change of command
ceremony was made over long distance telephme. My original orders as
commander of the Atlantic Wing of FLOGWINGS had also designated me as
Deputy Commander of Fleet Logistic Air Wings--Gumey's job. In his absence
fran the U. S. , I could act for him. Therefore, one cculd presume that
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since Gurney's tour of duty was socn to be up, my superiors intended for
me to take over the entire canmand in time. I took canmand of the Atlantic
Wing in June and the entire command en 15 December 1949.
A word about my boss Captain Marshall Gurney. He was a great person
to work for and he was a capable and persuasive leader. He knew how to
get results but he did it his way. He was never a stickler for regulationsu.
As I recall, when we were midshiprnen at the Naval Academy there were few
in his class who had spent more time "On The Ship" for breaking regulatims
than Marsh. The ship was the U.uS. S. REINA MERCEDES captured from the
Spanish in the Spanish-American War. It was cemented to the bottom of the
Severn River almgside the dock at the Naval Academy and served as a
staticn ship. When midshipmen received heavy ptm.ishment for breaking the
regulatims, they spent tine on the ship. They attended all classes and
drills but were quartered and nessed on the REINA MERCEDES and had no shore
leave for a specified number of days. It was much worse punishment than
walking the bull ring with a gun en a Saturday afternom--the usual form
of punishment for relatively minor infractims.
[I have a couple of questims concerning Patuxent. You said that
there were four commanders--four independent canmands--and I got the
impression that they were all respcnsible to different corrrnands and different
sources. Did this cause any crnflicts within the conmand?]
I think it worked out very well. Our missions were clearly stated
and there was no confusion and no overlapping. The Air Station existed
only for the purpose of providing services to those corrmands. Each command
had its own separate quarters, headquarters, squadrms, and hangars.
[So you weren't actually using the same physical facilities as far
as hangars and rtm.ways and things of that nature were concerned.]
-1
91
We shared tre same officers' club, the conmissary, and support facilities.
Of course the Air Statim had the respmsibility of keeping up the
hardware and the buildings. We all used the same rm ways, but we all had
outlying fields, too.
[When you replaced Gurney as Commander of FLOGWINGS, this cmstituted
a simple change of command for him. This was not a mark against his career?]
I think the reason for his relief was all on the cuff. My predecessors'
orders had not called for collateral duty as deputy commander of the Fleet
Logistic Air Wings as my orders did. I could act for Gurney in his absence
and I figured that since Gurney was supposed to beusom due for relief-he'd
been in canmand there for a couple of years , ever since FLOGWINGS was
forrred--that I would probably be the man to relieve him.
[I was referring to the rather suddenness with which he was relieved.]
There's no doubt that it was sudden--but after all, he stopped off at
a game but he had cargo destined for that locatim, too. He covered his
tracks pretty well. Gurney had a fine record. He got a CVE after that
which was a canmand of greater responsibility. Throughout his career Drew
Pearson's pet peeve had been the alleged misuse of government transportatim
by individuals. Jack Andersen has ccntinued to pursue the same
theme smg ever since Drew's death. It was a public relaticns matter and
the Navy's high conmand felt its sting. It still does but not so much now
as does the Air Force. Relieving Gurney seemed to be the easiest solution
for the irritation.
Gumey's CVE and my CVE were laid up at Tacana, Washington, at about
the same time. Marsh and I used to have lunch together while there. We
have always been good friends and still are.
EAST CAROLINA MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW
SEPTEMBER 10, 1980
RADM WILLIAM H. ASHFORD, JR., USN(RET)
INTERVIEW #7
Admiral Halsey, when a captain, was tl'E comrnand:ing officer of the
USS REINA MERCEDES, tre staticn ship at the Naval Academy, during one tour
of duty. His quarters aboard the ship were plush and his entire family
was allowed to live aboard with him. The ship was cemented to the bottom.
The billet was cmsidered to be a plumb, particularly to those senior
officers who tad spent many years m strenuous sea duty.
The commanding officer of our VR2 squadrm based at the Naval Air
Statim Moffett Field was a captain and I requested orders for him to
conmand the Pacific Wing after I took over the entire command. I retained
operational control of the Atlantic Wing. With:in VR2 there were three
patrol seaplanes built by the Martin Company. Those planes were called the
Mars and were the largest seaplanes that had ever been built excludmg
Howard Hughes's "Spruce Goose" that flew only once to a height of forty
feet. One of the Mars planes airlifted 420 soldiers from San Diego to
San Francisco during a jomt exercise. That was a record at that tirre.
They were regularly employed on our San Francisco-Hawaii run.
My command was now respmsible for all of the four-engine transport
planes in the Navy's inventory and a cmsiderable numrer of twin-engine
transports as well. The ten squadrcns within the comrrand were distributed
eastward to the Mediterranean and westward as far as the Philippines.
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Sorretime after relieving Marsh Gurney, I received a call to report
to the operations officer en the staff of t:te Commander-in Chief Atlantic
Fleet at his headquarters :in Norfolk, Va. Admiral William (Bill) Fechteler
was then CINC Atlantic. I went down and reported to Captain Chester (Chet)
Wood, USN, his operations officero. Chly the two of us were at the meetingo.
Chet briefed me on the political situation then existing in Icelando. That
nation had becane a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in
1949. About one-third of its populatim were Cannunists and cmcern was
being felt about the security of Keflavik Airport then be:ing used by most
of the aircraft flying between North .America and Europe. It was a fueling
stop about midway and because of that was censidered to be me of the mast
strategic airports in the world. A bill was tren pending :in the Alth:ing,
their governing bcx:ly similar to our Congresso, which w01ld autmrize U .s.
troops to move into Keflavik Airport and protect it. He told me that my
job would be to take the troops and the equipment there and that it must
be done in secret with no leakso. He further advised that I must be ready
to move as soon as the ink was dry on the bill and to work up the operatim
plan and come back and discuss it with him. He would be receiving progress
reports from the State Departma1t and pass them en to me as an aid in my
time plano.
I went tack to my headquarterso, called in my chief staff officer,
Captain Jock Wilsm , and my operations officero, Commander Larry Lawrenceo,
and we began to work up our plan. No one else was cut in on the operationo.
Tm troops would consist of an army battalicn under Major General McGawo.
They were to be picked up at Rome Air Force Base in New York, as I recall.
About two or three days before our estimated departure we planned to cancel
scheduled flights and assemble sixteen four-engine transports at Pax River
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to await the green light. Our twin-engine transports , R4Ds, would go to
Rome Air Force Base and pick up the troops and fly them to the Naval Air
Station Argen tia, Newfoundlando. They would be joined there by sixteen
four-engine transports, R5Ds, in which they would oo transported overnight
to Keflavik Airport arriving there just after daybreak. The sixteen planes
would be flown in a smgle formatim from Argentia to Icelando. As a cover
plan after cancell:ing scheduled flights and assembling planes at Pax River,
I put out the word tmt we would be soon engaged in a classified joint
operation with the Army. As the time drew near, I put out word that plane
crews should pack light clothing and "confidentially" I told my wife,
Bette, that we woold be going to Hawaii on rr.aneuverso. Since the bill in the
Alth:mg would be debated for several weekso, I decided to put an extra plane
crew on each of our North Atlantic runs and have it lay over at Keflavik
Airport for about a week. The crews were rotated in order that they would
all becorr.e familiar with the Keflavik airfield and the local situation.
It was our plan to so load the planes that they would be capable of overflying
Iceland and land at Preswick, Scotland, if the situation required.
It was arranged with the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) that the sixteen
planes going to Keflavik would be routed to Preswick Airport as their
destinationo. That information was put on the official teletype circuito.
At this point, I felt that I should go to London and tell CINCNELM-Admiral
Robert B. Carney (Mick)--of the plan. In the event sixteen large
Navy transports loaded with troops and equi?nent should suddenly appear
overhead at Preswick Airport one morningo, he might be called upon for an
explanationo.
Wren I called en CINCNELM, which is an abbreviation for Corrrnander in
Chief Northern Europe and Mediterraneano, Mick said that re was giving a
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ball at the Dorchester Hotel that night and invited me to attendo. Mick
rad relieved Miles Brownmg as Admiral Halsey's chief of staff just before
I left SOPAC. When I arrived at the Dorchester, arr.an in livery about
seven feet tall stood at the entrance of the ballroomo's closed doorso. He
asked me my nameo, opened the doorso, and armounced me in a voice that carried
throughout the large ballroom. I felt like royalty. The ball was quite a
success and the "Flower and Chivalry" of London were very nuch in evidenceo.
At the ball, I ran into my old friend Gene Markey, the movie director of
SOPAC days. He said that he was liv:ing in a small town in Ireland and
writing a book and had come to London for a short visito. He invited me to
have lunch with him the next day at the Embassy Club where he :introduced me
to Doug Fairbanks , Jro., who joined us for lunch.
Finally after weeks of waiting, the code word came thrrugh and I
embarked in the lead plane of VRl. The squadron corrmander, Corrmander Lowell
Priceo, was at the controlso. The planes proceeded singly to the Naval Air
Statiooo, Argentia. When we arrived around noono, General McGaw and his
troops were already there. My friend and classmate, Captain D. G. (Ducky)
Donaho, who was commanding officer of the Naval Air Stationo, Argentia, met
me and we proceeded with General McGaw to the operations office to get a
briefing on the latest weathero. There we learned that long-range corrmmications
had been disrupted due to a black-out caused by sunspots. This was
a frequent phenomena in high latitudes and it caused us some concerno.
The weathero, howevero, woold be heavily overcast throughout the night, but
it was predicted that the sixteen planes wruld be able to fly in formation
over the top at about ten or twelve thousand feeto. The estimate proved
to be correcto.
We flew over the top all the way to Icelando. When our navigatim
indicated that we were approaching the islando, Commander Price at the
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controls called Keflavik Airport tower en voice radio. The reply came back
promptly. Shortly, he came back and told me that one of our plane comrmnders,
who was on lay-over at Keflavik with his crew, was on the radio
telephone .in Keflavik tower. I went to the cockpit and took the microphone
and talked to the trner. In order to confirm that we were in fact
talking to the persm he said he was, I began to ask questions the answers
to which should only be knam to some person who lived at Pax River. I
asked such questims as: What is the nickname of the C.O. at Pax River?
Who is manager of the officers' club at Pax River? As socn as we were
assured that we were talk:mg to our man, we began to get weather reports.
He reported that the overcast became broken just over the field and that
we would be able to get down without going en radar control. That news
was a great relief. Just as we passed over the shoreline, the overcast
sure enough was broken and we cruld see land. It was forttmate for us that
such was the case, for after land.ing we learned that all radio aids surrounding
Keflavik irfield had been sabotaged during the night, and had we
been forced .into a holding pattern above the overcast, a serious problem
would have developed in trying to fiX our position with respect to the
airfield without those radio aids.
[Then the saboteurs knew you were coming.u]
Mountains sore five or six thousand feet high were a short distance
from the airport. The sabotage of the radio aids dur:ing oor transit was
done in the hope that we would crash into those rnoootains. The intelligence
of the Corrmunists rrust have been pretty good.
Our planes came in for landings about me minute apart and the troops
began unloading their equipment irrmediately after landing. On the groond,
I met with and talked to our plane commander who had been in the control
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tower and asked h:iID how he knew we were corningo. He said that although no
one had tipped him off, he reasmed that lay-over crews were being kept .in
Keflavik for some good reasono. He had been nosing around the operations
office the afternoon before and rad seen the flight plans . He noticed
the tureau numbers of the planes enroute and recognized them as belong.ing
to his squadron--VRlo. With that :information, he went to the control tower
about 4 a.m. and waited. He had certainly used his head and oor lay-over
plan had paid off.
At Keflavik Airport I was surprised to see U.S. Coast Guard planes
and went over and talked to some of the Coast Guard personnel. I learned
that they comprised the International Ice Patrol which was established in
1914 after the TITANIC sank when it struck an icebergo. Fourteen maritime
nations shared the expense of rraintaining the International Ice Patrolo.
The U.S. C.Oast Guard had been selected to do the job and has been there
ever s:ince except for about three years dur:ing World War II when it was
temporarily disccntinuedo. D.lring that time a ship struck an iceberg and
sanko. Within about two hours all the planes had been unloaded, gassed, and
we were winging our way back to Argentiao.
Ch a subsequent flight when I was enroute fran Keflavik to Argentia,
I ma.de a detour into Davis Strait between Greenland and Baffin Island to
see where the icebergs were born. It's quite a sighto. In the spring
the glaciers move down the side of the mruntains and fall in chunks from
the cliffs into the seao, so an iceberg is born and the Labrador current
carries it out into the North Atlantic shipping laneso. Dur.ing that trip
I also flew over the U .s. Air Force Base at Thule, Greenlando. We traveled
many miles in to a narrow winding fiord before reaching the airfieldo. It
had one runway and it appeared that a large plane would only be able to
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take off in me direction and land in the other direction. The fiord was
so narrow and the mamtains so high, it seemed that we were closed in on
all sides except to seaward. Greenland may be great for Eskirros tut it is
indeed a forbidding looking place for an aviator.
[When did that airlift into Iceland happen?]
I'm sure that it must have been in 1952.
A cruple of months after oor Iceland operatirn, I received a call to
come to the Pentagon to discuss another type of operation which would last
several weeks. The Navy High Corrmand decided that the Navy should have a
combination seaplane and air base :in the Mediterranean area to support the
forces of the Sixth Fleet and the NATO corrmand. Commander, FLOGWINGS was
directed to make a survey of the Mediterranean Basin and recanmend a site.
Seaplanes which at one time had played an important role in naval aviation
had gradually been downgraded and few pilots with 1mg experience in
seaplanes were still on flying duty. I knew of one, however, who was without
peer. He was Pat Byrne, a forrrer chief tx, atswain who checked IrE out
in the XPBY m Patrol Squadrm Eleven--the first squadron to get that
workhorse 1:llilt by C.Onsolidated Aircraft. I wanted Pat for this survey
and I was able to get him ordered to my command for temporary duty. He
was then a lieutenant commander. At that time he probably had rrore flight
time than any other aviator m active flying duty in the Navy. Flying was
his life. Commander Larry Lawrence , my operations officer, was put in
charge of the survey team and off they went to tre Mediterranean.
After the survey had been underway for some time, I decided to join
them for a few days, get a progress report, and go m to Naples and cmfer
with members of the staff of Comrr:ander in Chief, South--CINCSOUTH, for
short. Admiral Carney had recently been transferred from CINCNELM, a U.S.
comnand with headquarters in Londm to CINCSOUTH, a NATO command with
headquarters m Naples. Since our survey was a direct concern of that
comnand, I felt a crnrtesy call m Admiral Carney was in order. I jomed
the survey team at Taranto, Italy. It is located in the instep of the
boot. Elements of the Sixth Fleet were also in that port when I arrived
and I made a courtesy call en my old friend Captain Fred Tra?iell, later
vice admiral, who had recently been detached as commander of the Naval
Air Test Center at Patuxent River, Maryland, and had assumed corrmand of the
aircraft carrier CORAL SEA which was the sister ship of the F. D. ROOSEVELT
and the MIDWAY. .Another close friend of mine was in port. He was Captain
Henry Cromrnelin, later vice admiral, then commanding officer of the new
heavy cruiser DES MOINES. Fred sent rre over to the DES MOINES in one of
his helicopters. Henry had mrried the widow of my closest friend, Cy
Clendam:ing, whcse daught.er was my godchild. As I mentioned before, Cy had
gene down with the airship AKRON. Incidentally, there were five brothers
in the Crommelin family from Wetumpka, Alabam, and all of them graduated
from the U.uS. Naval Academy and served with the Navy m World War II.
Three were aviators, two of which were killed in action during the war. No
other family has ever had five sons to be graduated from the U. S. Naval
Academy. All of them were outstandmg naval officers.
While with the survey team, I flew over some of the sights under
consideration and then proceeded onto Naples to cmfer with tte staff of
CINCSOUTH. When I reached Admiral Camey's headquarters, I was delighted
to see old friends and shipmates Captains Sherman E. furroughs , Jr . ,
(Ev), later rear admiral, and James S. Gray, Jr. , (Jim) who were on
the ENTERPRISE with me during the first year of tre war. Ev was cne of the
members of Halsey's original staff and I have rrentioned Jim Gray's narrow
-2a00
escape previously after he became lost in his fighter plane from tre
ENTERPRISE. At CINCSOUTH's headquarters I learned from Admiral Carney that
there was only one site which he wanted as a land and seaplane base in the
Med. and that was Bizerte, Tunisia. Our final recanmendation for the sight
was Bizerte, first choice, and Catania, Sicily, second cmicea. I had
flown over Catania during my visit and cmceded that it left much to be
desireda. As it turned out, no base was ever t:uilta. I never learned trn
reason tut think that Tunisia turned down the project and Admiral Carney
would have no othera.
Since the 1870s, the U .s. Navy had used the Sarroan Islands as a
replenishment base and a coaling station for its ships. In 1900 the
eastern portion of tre Samoan Islands came under U .s. control as a result
of the treaty between Great Brita:in and Germany. At that tirre, administration
of those islands was given to the Navy since its :interests were
pararrnunta. A Naval officer had been governor of the islands ever since.
In 1950 the Congress passed a bill transferring administration to the
Department of tre Interior, so the naval presence which had been there for
fifty years was being phased out. The Samoan people decided that they
wanted to hmor the Navy by giving it a send-off tmt would be long remembereda.
They decided to close the schools and all businesses for a week and
celebratea. The festivities were to be held daily at an arena to be constructed.
Tm O:>nmander in Chief Pacific Fleet would be invited to come
as the honored guesta. He was then Admiral Artru.r W. Radford who had been
a shipnate of mine on tre first carrier tuilt from tre keel up--the U.S.S.
RANGER. He was also CINCPAC at that time. There is a distinctim between
Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet and Coirmander in Chief Pacific . O:>rrmander
in Chief Pacific cmtrols all military operations from the Arctic to the
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Pntarcticao. Corrmander in Chief Pacific Fleet exercises corrmand of the
actual ships and installatimso. For example, Admiral Ulysses S. Grant
Sharp was in top command during the Vietnam War. He has written a book
which is making quite a splash called Strategy For Defeat. He points out
that our forces were not allowed to win in Vietnamo.
One day Captain Jock Wilson, my chief staff officer, came in for a
chat. He mentioned the week's celebration which wruld take place in Pago
Pago m the island of Tutuila and suggested that the occasion would be a
good time for me to inspect the small air unit of my corr:nnand that was
stationed on the island. I had never inspected it. The unit consisted of
some three or four planes which provided services for tmse islandso.
Admiral Radford would be flying there :in a FLOGWING aircrafto, and the idea
of be.ing invited to jo:in his party seemed interesting. I felt the need
for a blow at any rateo. I wrote my old friend and roommate Captain Fitz
Lee, who was then operations officer to Admiral Radford, and explained the
situation and asked him to "take a sounding" for me. An answer came back
promptly extending a cordial in.vi tation for me to come to Pearl and join
Admiral Radford's group for the trip. Althrugh I could issue myself
orders as "Extra Crew" on any flight of any plane under my command, I
certainly had no intention of doing so :in a situatim such as thiso.
Incidentally, Mrs. Radford also accompanied us on that trip. When we
arrived at Pago Pago, Tutuila, we found a receiving line awaiting us. All
the native chiefs in .American Samoa were lined up on the runway and each
passenger filed down the l.ine shaking hands as they disembarkedo. The
chiefs were all in native dress wearing lava-lavas, a wraparound cloth
similar to the sarong worn by the womeno, which was knee length. They
were all barefooted and wore no shirtso. Most of them rad a string of
-2
02
shells around their necksa. A note of elegance was added for the occasiona,
howevera. They wore high-topped silk opera hats.
[At this time was the native attire normal or did they wear western
style attire?]
They did wear lava-lavas, but I imagine that they had one for special
occasions. Their everyday clothing was just a wraparound cloth.
[ They had not adopted western attire at tha.t time?]
No, they had nota. They were large and well-b.lilt men, elderly, and
most were pot-bellied. It was a recepticn not som to be forgotten, and
the we le ome was genuinea. The Admiral 's party was small and we were all
quartered and messed in the homes of the naval and civilian personnel in
Pago Pago for the duration of our visita. There were no hotels tren in Pago
Pago. The excellent ha.r bor was the m ly protected one in American Samoa.
It resembled the rim of an extinct volcano with high mruntains surrounding
it except at the entrance. No doubt that was its origina. We arrived on
Sunday and on Monday morning tre festivities begana. Our party occupied
the covered grandstand which had been built for the occasiona. The festivities
lasted for about two hcurs in the morning and for abcut two hours in
the aftemom for five days. The things that stand out rrost in my memory
are the sword dance and fire dance put on by the young mena, their warriorsa.
Suffice it to say that it was a spectacle that few .Americans will ever have
the opportunity of witnessinga. The Sarroans are a happy people. At night
they paraded the streets singing well into the small hoursa. They do little
work since the islands abound in many types of coconut trees and breadfruit
and bananas. Papaya and other fruit abound and also seafoods are plentiful.
Their usual shelter consists of me-roan grass huts moonted m stilts with
rurtains of paJm fronds which could be lowered to keep out the rain. There
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is a lot of rainfall there. The roofs were thatched. The frames and floors
were wood. One thing they wanted most was electricity which they didn't
have. Tribal life was unusual. The chiefs had great auth::>rity in handling
the affairs of his tribe, settling disputes and handing out punishnent.
Marriages generally took place within the tribe, but a prospective bride
was more desireable after she had proved herself by having given birth to
a child. That generally took place as a result of her going outside of
the tribe to becane pregnant. Divorce was easy and granted upm request
of the couple to a U.S. judge or cornmissimer. The usual fee was $25.
Toward the end of the week Admiral Radford decided to take his party
over to Western Samoa under New Zealand control for a short visit. I
declined to go because my right hip had started to give me some pain when
I walked. The syrnptans were the same as in the case of my left hip when
I was hospitalized in Newport about two years before and I became concerned.
When I returned to Pax River, the first thing I did was to see the
senior medical officer en the statim. He took x-rays and told me that the
ball of the fenur of my hip tad become decalcified and that I should go
to the Naval Medical Center at Bethesda without delay. The same thing
happened two years before to my left hip when I was at t:te Naval War
College. After checking in at the Naval Medical Center at Bethesda,
Maryland, additional tests were made. The doctors decided not to put me
:in traction as had been done previously and only bed rest was prescribed.
I was not do do any weight bearing whatsoever. The medication prescribed
was a good shot of bourbon before my evening meal and another shot before
retiring. After thirty days they put me on crutches as the decalcification
process had reversed as it had previously done. After thirty days on
crutches, they gave me a cane and allowed me to go home. The Lahey Clinic
-204
in Bosten never made a diagnosis of my problem. At Betresda it was pronounced
to be zinovi tis, whatever that is, I never learned exactly. In
any event no one was ever able to te 11 rre the cause or what caused the
cure. The concensus was that I was probably the Juckiest fellow they 1mew.
President Truman brought in Mr. Johlson , not Lyndma, as Secretary of
Defmse after Mr. Forrestal had resigned in March of 1949. Mr. Johnson
proceeded to cut back m the military establishment in no uncertain terms;
in fact he began to cut the hell out of it. In the spring of 1950, I
received orders to lay up about me-half of the frur-engine transports in
the Navy's inventory and to return to civilian life about me-third to mehalf
of the reserve naval aviators in my coil1m3nda. All were experienced
transport plane pilotsa. The planes were to be sent to Leitchfield Parka,
Arizona, near Phoenixa. I made a trip there to look over the set-up and
learned that it was in the desert and there were acres and acres of World
War II planes there in mothballs, so to speak. The hot dry climate reduced
erosion. That order came as a blow, for it meant the virtual emasculation
of the Navy's airlift capabilities, and I had a gut feeling that it was
coming at a very bad time and that we would live to regret the ordera. I
made a trip to Washingtcn and pleaded against it in DCN0(AIR). I even
indicated that I might ask for another assignment and I was told :in no uncertain
terms by the aviaticn detail officer that if I did that assignment
would be direct to Vietnam. Since the order had emanated from the Secretary
of Defense, I got nowhere. I returned to Pax River to brood over it.
The directive called for the lay-up to be accomplished by 1 June,
1950. I really can't explain my actims at that tirre otrer than to say
that the g?t feeling I had made me decide not to lay-up tre planes when
directed. In order to protect myself somewhat, however , I wrote a letter
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to the Chief of Naval Operations giv:ing all the reasons why I felt the
action shoold not be taken and asked that the rratter be reconsidereda. That
letter I knew would take time to go through channels and would serve as an
excuse for my delay in not execut:ing the order by 1 June. I waited tmtil
about 20 May before sending it. As I waited for the answer, the gut feeling
increased because of the Korean situatima. Finally, about 20 June, I
felt that I could wait no longer without risking a courtmartial for not
carrying out ordersa. I sent the dispatch directing that the planes be
ferried to Leitchfield Park, Arizaiaa, and the pilots released from active
duty and ordered home. Five days later, on 25 June, North Korean forces
invaded South Korea. I received a rurry-up call to come to the Pentagon
for a conferencea. I was asked what airlift could be rrade available for
getting urgently needed supplies into South Korea, which meant that the
four-engine transports would have to be used. I replied that tte Chief of
Naval Operations had issued me orders to lay-up half of my airlift and had
ordered half of my pilots relieved fran active duty and sent home effective
1 Junea, some twenty-five days beforea. After letting that statement sink
in for a moment, my next statement was that I had not acted until five
days beforea, pending receipt of an answer to my request for reconsideration
of that order and that there was still time enough to cancel my order.
was told to cancel all deactivatim orders. That was dme. In Honolulu,
one pilot who had been released was actually walking up the gangway of tre
ship headed for the U .s. when he was given the word that his orders had
been canceled. When the quarterly history of the canmand was sent to the
department of Aviation History in the Pentagcn, it contained a complete
account of the whole episode. I wanted the event to be recorded for
history. Mr. Johnson's tenure in office didn't last very long.
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Emphasis now was to airlift the maxirrum amount of material to our
fighting forces in Koreao. Since that war lasted some thirty-seven rocnthso,
our transports were at a premium and were being pushed to the limito. At
a cocktail party I overheard a remark made by a captain in the Naval Supply
Corps who was on duty in Washington which :indicated that several of the
Navy's four-engine transport planes were on lease to Eastern Airlineso. My
ears perked up. I had the responsibility of keeping an accurate account
of the number and types of transport planes in tre Navy's inventory and
where they were located . The planes on lease to Eastern Air lines were not
in my book. Discreet inquiries were made by my coo tacts in the Bureau of
Aeronautics and this is what I learnedo. Eddie Rickenbackero, the president
of Eastern Airlineso, had leased four four-engine transports, R5Dso, from the
Navy at a minimal price and had then entered :into a very lucrative contract
with the Navy to fly our cargo to Korea using tmse and other planes in
Eastern 's inventory. The whole thing stunk. No wonder there had been a
cover-upo. Why trose planes never appeared in the Navy's inventory, I
never learned, tut I proceeded to take steps to get them back. An official
letter was writ ten to Vice Admiral Joln Cassady, then Deputy Chief of Naval
Operations for AIR; inform:mg him of the situationo. During my investigation,
I also learned that about sixteen twin-engine transport planes had
also been leased to other commercial air carrierso. Admiral Cassady began
to back me up and a ccnsiderable amount of correspondence took place seeking
the return of the planes , but Rickenbacker would not give them upo. He
had connections aplenty. To make a lcng story short, the matter finally
got to the White House and apparently to keep the stink undercover, it was
decided that Eastern would ha.ve to return the planeso. Eventually the word
came that the fru.r planes were at the Naval Air Staticn Pensacola, Floridao,
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and I could have them. I flew down there and inspected themo. In the
mmths Eastern had held them, they had been flown almost continually and
they were a beat-up lot and in a sorry state of maintenanceo. How did it
come about? I learned from a pretty authoritative source that the deal
was handled by an assistant secretary of the Navy, a presidential
appointee whose name I will not mentimo.
One day a call came from Commander Lowell Priceo, squadron comrrander
of VRl statimed at Pax Rivero, stating that one of his planes had just
returned from Europe by Iceland and the crew reported sight:ing what trey
described as an unidentified fly:ing object (UFO). I asked that the plane
corrmander be sent to my officeo. He was a lieutenant commander with long
experience and considered to be cne of the most respmsible pilots :in the
squadrono. This is his story: His planeo, a R5D foor-engine transport, was
enrrute from Iceland to the Naval Air Statim Argentia, Newfoundlando, and
they were flying at about twelve thousand feet on automatic piloto. The
weather was clear and the visibility excellento. The time was about 2: 00 a.m.
In the forward compartment was the plane commander, co-pilot, the navigator,
and the engineer. Lights were sighted far below. They first believed them
to be coming from a shipo. They were kept under observation for a few minuteso.
The lights became closer and ito�was realized that they were not on a ship
but en a flying object that was closing. All four crew members :in the forward
compartment made that observationo. The lights becare closer and
closer and headed for them. At one po:int, the plane commander became
alarmed and took over the ccntrols from the automatic pilot and ITEneuvered
the plane :in a radical avoiding maneuver. The UFO, so-called, care with:in
a short distance of the VRl plane traveling at a speed they estimated at
about fifteen hundred miles an hour, twice the speed of sound, and soon
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disappeared into the stratospherea. I asked the plane commander to draw
a picture of the objecta, which he did, :in colora. He came up with a circular
object shewing jet streams of fire com:ing from nozzles thraughcut
mlf of the circle, the rear halfa. After interviewing the plane canmander ,
I called in each of the other crew members who had witnessed the scene and
their story was essentially the same. The crew had all been very
frightened . The plane commander , after the sighting , radioed the Naval
Air Station, Argentia, an accamt of the incident. When the plane landed
there later in the morninga, the crew was met and interviewed by a team sent
:in by the U .s. Air Force, presumably from an Air Force base in Labrador.
The Air Force had the respcnsibility of investigating reported sightings
of UFOs,. I :instructed the plane coIT1IIEI1der to put the information he had
given me into an official letter and include the color drawing of the
UFO. Tte letter was forwarded to the Office of Naval Intelligence in the
Pentagona. I never heard anymore about the incident, but cne thing is sure;
never again will I scoff at the mentim of a UFO by anybody.
[Did they see just lights or did they see the object beh:ind the
lights?a]
They saw the object and described it and drew it.
[How large was it?a]
It was a huge disk. It came so close to them they thought that it
was going to crash into them. It was go:ing at an incredible speed. The
thing that impressed me was how frightened trey all had been as a result
of the :incidenta. Later m when I was in the Pentagon in 05W, I described
at a meet:ing of the varicus departments in DCNO(AIR) the whole incidenta.
[What was the reaction of the Pentagm?]
No reactiona. Tre reaction was the same as I had. I had nothing to
saya.
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[Was there a large number of lights on the disk?]
Ch the rear semicircle there nust have been fifteen or twenty or more
nozzles with fire coming out of thema. The shape of the object was like a
giant ray.
[Were there lights in the frmt?]
I dcn't recall but there were jet streams coming out of the rear
semicircle from , apparently, nozzles . I den 't know if there were any
lights on the front. I was so flabbergasteda. See that black spot in my
hand? In listening to that plane coillIIErl.der talk, I had a pencil in my
hand and I jammed it into my band and that lead has been there ever since.
I have no explanation. I'm just telling you what they said they saw and
o
I'm telling you what I heard. It is such a hot potato and nooody wants ta
touch it. It is :in the Navy's intelligence files somewherea. The Air Force
has evaluated hundreds and hundreds of reports and they all come up with a
negative position because no me has ever captured one.
furing one of my trips to the West Coast, we had Admiral Charles M.
(Savy) Cooke as a passenger. He stood number two in his class at the
Naval Academy, hence his nickname Savy. He had been Chief of Staff to
Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet ( COMINCH) who was Admiral Ernie King during
most of the wara. We sat together during the trip west. He was then retired
and he talked freealy of his experiences as seen from the officer of
COMINCH and as Chief of Staff to Admiral Ernie King. I recall that me
subject we talked about at length were the events leading up to the creatim
of the U .s. Air Forcea, formerly the U .s. Army Air Corp. I asked whether
or not the Army had opposed the loss of their integrated air support which
had been provided by the Army Air Corp. He said that the final decision
rested with General George Marshall and he made the decision based on the
-21o0
need for rr.ore fund:ing for the military. He reasoned that the only way that
it could come about was by creating a new serviceo. He was determined that
never againo, if he could help it, would the Army be reduced to some 140,000
men and have to drill with wooden gunso.
Che day I had a letter fran Capta:in Joe Clifton who had been my train:ing
officer at Lee Field. He had rrade captain and was in command of a carrier
which would be putting in to Japan . He wrote to ask if I would like for
him to do any shopping for me while thereo. I wrote that I would love to
have a chowbench and a hand-carved wooden screeno. Some weeks later they
arrived along with a letter say:ing that he and the wife of one of my classmates
tten on duty in Tokyo had shopped the city and had obtained what
they believed to be the last antique wooden screen in Tokyo. Joe Cliftm
went on to make rear admiral and then developed a rare disease which caused
his joints to disintegrateo. He died srortly afterwards. Joe had many
friends and he will be long rememberedo. He was a native of Paducah,
Kentucky. The city fathers have honored him by naming an important thoroughfare
the Joe Clifton Boulevardo.
After two years at Pax Rivero, orders ca.me through for me to report to
the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air and head up the lcng-range
planning branch within that departmento. I had been tipped off by a classmate,
Capta:in B. E. (Benny) Mooreo, who was on duty in DCNO(AIR)o, that I
could expect to join him trereo. Our operations officer CornrrEnder Larry
Lawrence had also received orders to duty in the Pentagono. S:ince we had
about a mcnth before we were to be detachedo, he and his wife Peggy and
Bette and I spent several weekends house-hunting in the Washington area.
After abrut a month of looking, we spotted a townhouse in Alexandria and
inmediately fell in love with it. We bought it after seeing it only cnce.
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My relief was to be Captain J. I. Taylora, thm Deputy to Canmander
Military Air Transport Service (MATS) who was Lieutenant General Lawrence
Kuter USAF. When J. I. , as he was called , reported :in we took a sw:ing
around the Atlantic with stops at Port Lyautey where Captain Trurstm
Clarka, the C.O. of that staticna, and Comrrnnder Jimmy Smith, the ALCOR whom
I had sent there, joined us during part of rur inspection tour. We stopped
off in Paris for a weekend enrrute to Londona. We made the return trip by
Iceland and NAS Argentia.
Our two years at Pax River were most pleasant and we looked back m
them with happy memoriesa. The quarters were delightful and the Navy cook
that went with the job was most welcorre. The hunt:ing was good and the
fishing and crabb:ing excellenta. Patuxent River oysters were famous and
I hit upon the idea of exchanging them for other seafoods which we loved.
A large metal icebox was obtained and kept in the FLOGWING term:inal at
Pax River. When a plane departed for Argen tia, Key West, San Francisco,
or Kodiak, Alaska, I would cal 1 the officers' club and have a bushel of
oysters :in the half-shell delivered to the terminal and placed in the icebox.
When the plane returned from Argentiaa, the box would contain lobstera,
from Key West--shrimp, from San Francisco--giant crab, and from Kodiaksalmon.
Units or squadrcns in my corrmand were :in all those locatims and
a deal had been worked out with the c.o!s and officers in charge of units
for the swap. We never lacked for a wide variety of seafood.
When the duck season appeareda, I requested permissicn to tuild a duck
bl:ind on White IsLand across the Bay. It was uninhabited and then bemg
used by the Navy as a bombing range. Capta:in Robert E. (Bob) Dixm, a
classmate and old hmt:ing canpanion of mine, was then statimed at the Naval
Air Test Center at Patuxent. He was a test pilot for new aircraft.
-212
Together we worked rut a deal with some of cur friendso, who were crabbers
and lived on the Eastern Shoreo, to build a duck blind on White Island and
hunt with us using their boat. There was an abandoned hunting lodge on the
island where we holed up at night and cooked oor mealso. Bob Dixon later
became Chief of the Bureau of Aeronauticso. Bob led a carrier grrup air
attack against a carrier in the Battle of the Coral Sea and his voice
transmission giving the result of that attack became famouso. It was
simply this: "Scratch one flattop."
In July of 1951, we packed up again and after the change in comrrand
ceremony headed for our new home in Alexandria, Virginia. It was the first
home we had ever owned and we looked forward to furnishing it with oor
own thingso. On 7 July, 1951, I reported to the Deputy Chief of Naval
Operations for Air for duty in the Pentagm as head of the Long-Range
Plann:ing Branch within that departmento. That organizatim consisted of
four sectionso, i.e., Strategic Plans, Logistic Plans, Special Studieso, and
the Aviation History Sectiono. In the Strategic and Logistic Plans sectionso,
all matters affecting naval aviation which were under consideration by the
Joint Chiefs of Staff were processed for comnent through those sectionso.
The Special Studies Section made studies and submitted reports to DCNO(AIR)
on such subjects as we desired or as were assignedo. The Aviation History
Section. was responsible for maintaining the Naval Aviation Library, processing
the quarterly reports corrri.ng :in from every aviation unit down to
the squadron level, and doing research as directedo.
The Korean "police act ion" as it was then being called by our
politicians had been underway for a year when I reported to the Pentagon.
The police action turned out to be one of the bloodiest wars ever fought.
The political tug of war :in Wash:ington over military matters was then as
hot as a firecrackero. General Eisenhower had been Chief of Staff of the
-213
Army from November, 1945 to 1948 when he went on inactive duty and becarre
pres id Ent of Columbia University. However , dur :ing the four years following
1948 at least half of that tirre was devoted to military policy on a temporary
duty basis in Washingtm. As Chief of Staff of the Army, General
Eisenhower devoted much time and effort trying to get legislation passed
by Congress to reduce the Marine Corps to nothing more than a cererronial
guard and have the Army take over its combat functionso. He may have had
some success if the Korean War had not proved �to our politicians and the
rest of the world that it was only the combat read:iness and capability of
the Mar:ine Corps that held :in check the North Korean invasion forces until
the Army could br:ing up their big gunso.
Dur:ing the heated debate over the role of the Marine Corps, General
Eisenhower took a bad lick:ingo. From it I learned something of the marvelous
system of public relations which the Mar:ines had compiled throughout the
many years of its existenceo. As you know, it is our oldest military serviceo.
The system worked like thiso. If an issue of vital importance to the future
of the Marine Corps was to be debated on the floor of the Congress, one
telephme call to the firm handling Marine Ck>rps lobbying cculd be made
which would set in rrotion a lobbying operation so vast that the next day
some forty senators would be on the floor of the Senate to vote in favor
of the Marine Ck>rps' positiono. There iS an old Navy flag with a picture
of a snake and stars and bars m it which was used on some naval vessel in
the past and it al so has a serpent on it with a quotation "Dm 't Tread on
Me." That slogan never had more validity than when applied to the Marine
Corps. I have a decal of that flag on my car now sitting in the backyard.
General Eisenhowero, as popular as he waso, took a licking when he tried to
reduce the Marine Corps to a Corporalo's Guardo.
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There was another hot potato on the political scene in Washmgton when
I arrived . General Olrtis LeMay , then Chief of the U.S. Air Force , was
pushmg to take over operational control of the Navy's carriers for the
benefit of the Air Forceu. The Long-Range Planning Branch was burning the
midnight oil, so to speak, in rerutting his arguments then taking place
within the planning staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staffu. our Special
Studies Group was busy making cost studies of carriers versus land bases
and their aircraft and compil:ing data on the damage sustamed by the carriers
during World War II. .Agam, it was the Korean War which helped to bail out
the Navy fran LeMay' s threat. As in the case of the Marine Corps , it was
the Navy carrier that was combat ready and held the line until such time
as the newly formed U. S. Air Force was able to build bases and assemble
a fight.mg air force in Korea. LeMay took a licking, but it was a hot
battle while it lasted. The fundamental lesson of Korea is that the national
interest demands the ready combat capability that mly the Marine Corps
and the Navy can provideu. Fortunately the nation seems at long last to
be recognizing that need as it develops the ready combat force so recently
projectedu.
Since this was my first duty in the Pentagm, I was to have my eyes
opened and to learn the rrBaning of the word paperwork. I had not been
there long before I realized that the major portion of one's working hours
was spent in reading and initialing material that in rrost cases was irrelavent
to one's job. There seemed to be a feeling that permeated the Pentagon
that unless there were some thirty or forty favorable reactions as evidenced
by sigpature or initial in the approved colurrn that there was little
chance of getting a project approved by a final authority. After spending
a few weeks operating as a cog in that machine , I realized that if the
-215
Long-Range Planning Branch was to do its job and accomplish anything
worthwhile, something had to be dcne to shut off the flood of paper and
free the sixteen officers in that branch for creative and productive work.
The plan I put into effect was as follows: I requested the office routing
correspondence to have all paperwork earmarked for initialing by any
secticn of the Long-Range Planning Branch to be delivered to my desk. For
about two weeks I spent practically all of my time each working day reading
the material. Aoout 90 percent of it was returned without initials accompanied
by the request that the material covering the subject matter in
question be no looger routed to the Long-Range Planning Branch. The other
10 percent, I routed to the responsible individuals. There was a saying
going around at tre time, "When you get a piece of paper you want to get
rid of and don't know how to handle it, route it to the Crnsul General at
Shanghai.u" Of crurse there had been no such office for mmy years so you
never heard from the paper again . In taking this action , I wasn't exactly
acting on my own, but when I took the job my boss Rear Admiral Herbert
Duckworth had specified only two things for me to do--"to play golf one
afternoon a week and to sit there with your feet on the table and think."
Therefore I bad to free myself and other members of the team from the flow
of paper if we were to turn out anything of a cmstructive nature.
Another political battle that took place was the assault on flight
pay for aviators. That pay is to partially canpensate for the extrahazardous
duty camected with military aviation. All aviators are volunteers.
No me is ordered to fly who does not volunteer for that duty.
Since its inception, flight pay has been given as an inducement to get
volunteers. The bill to discontinue that flight pay for all services was
sponsored by the senior senator from Illinois , Paul Douglas , an ex-college
-216
professor who was a dedicated liberala. I also remember that he had a
withered arm as a result of having been woooded in World War I. His
protege at that time was a freshman senator, Senator Russell B. Long
from Louisianaa. The bill designed to save only a few millim dollars ,
could if passed destroy rur military aviation capability and was of deep
cmcem to the Departrrent of Defensea. Shortly before the Christmas holidays
in 1951, Vice Admiral Jorn Howard Cassady DCNO(AIR)a, later admiral,
called me in and directed me to head up an ad-hoc corrmittee of some eight
officers, mostly aviators, and develop the case to defeat the bill. The
matter had such priority that we were to work throughout the Christmas
holidays day and night and to complete the assignment by the time Congress
reccnvened after the holidaysa. We did just that. Initial hearings in the
Senate were to be conducted by the Preparedness Subcommittee of the Armed
Forces Corrmitteea. Senator Lyndm Jomson headed up that subconmitteea. He
was the protege of Senator Richard Russell of Georgia who held that post
before he became Chairman of tre Armed Forces Committee, per se. The
Department of Defense had retained an em:inent civilian lawyer to present
its case before the su bco rrmi t tee . Vice Admiral Cassady :invited me to join
him at the subcommittee's hear:ings which were chaired by Senator Stennis
of Mississippia. The Preparedness fubcomrnittee voted the bill rut for
debate on the floora. When the bill came up for debate, I was :in the Senate
gallery to observea. Senator Lyndon Jomsm had issued me two tickets.
The strategy of the proponents was to attach the bill as an amendrrent to
the Military Appropriations Billa. After lengthy debate, it socn became
evident that the Senate favored passage of legislation to discmtinue all
military flight pay. Just before debate was closed off, Senator Richard
Russell rushed on the floor of the Senatea, was briefed quickly by a colleague,
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and was recogp.ized by the chair and began to debate. He pointed out that
passage of the bill could destroy military aviatim of all services within
a short period of tirre. Furthernore, he stated that tre attactment of a
rider of such fundamental importance to the natimal interest to an appropriaticns
bill was not a responsible way to legislate. He told the Senate
that "if you will vote down this amendmenta, I promise you that the full
corrmittee of the Senate Armed Forces will cm.duct a full .investigatim of
the subject and submit its recomnendatims to this body. I urge you to
allow me to do just that." The prestige of Senator Russell on Capitol Hill
was greata. In facta, he had been voted by his colleagues as well as by the
Washington Press Associatim as the most influential senator in the Ccngressa.
furing the roll calla, I held my breath. By a close margina, Senator Russell
had prevaileda. Without his impassioned appeal, I felt sure that the reverse
would have been truea.
General LeMay, having failed to carry the Joint Chiefs of Staff alcng
with him in his proposal to take over operaticnal cmtrol of the Navy
carriersa, did not give up by any meansa. The proponents of the plan :introduced
a bilal m the Congress and the fight began anew. One of the principle
arguments advanced was that the carriers were vuJnerable to aerial
oombing. Another was based on the relative cost between air bases and
carriers . .Again we had our work cut out for us and proceeded to tum out
more position papers covering both subjectsa. Our research showed that no
large carrier (by large I mean attack carrier not a CVE) was sunk by aerial
bombs during World War II. All of those carriers which were sunk were by
torpedoesa. It is true that the old LEXINGTON received a bomb down its
stack in the battle of the Coral Sea which started internal fires and those
fires finally got out of controla, although the ship was still withdrawing
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and making twenty-five knots at the time. The fire started was fueled by
the many layers of oil paint in the interior compartmentsa. The lesson
learned was to scrape all oil paint from naval vessels and replace with
water-based paint. We lost the LEXINGTON because of the oil painta. our
research on cost analysis covering the period of years also showed that the
carrier has the advantage over the land base with its accompanying aircraft.
The rra.terial developed was put into the hands of the members of Q::ngress
favorable to our positicn and distributed by them to all members of the
Congress. We turned out copies by the hundredsa. I recall on one occasicn
sending for a handtrucka, loading it with that material, and pullmg it up
to the office of the Navy's Chief of Public Information fer further distri1:lltiona.
He was Rear Admiral Robert F. Hickey, later vice admiral, and he
had been one of my instructors in primary training at Pensacola. Again we
were successful with much help from our carrier operations in support of
our forces in the Korean police actiona.
As everyone knew, Drew Pearsona's syndicated colurm was forever castigating
the military and it seerred to us that the Navy in particular had to
absorb the brunt of his venom. Being the good Q.iaker that he wasa, the
Korean conflict kept the venom flowing. We read tre Washmgton Post each
rrorning to get his latest pitch. From time to time, our Special Studies
Group was called upon by the Secretary of the Navy to prepare rebuttals to
his attacksa. That occurred when the patience of too Navy's high corrmand
was gooded too rrucha. It was soon realizeda, howevera, that engag:ing in a
running battle with Drew Pearson was a no-win situationa. Pny rebuttal only
brought on more attacks. There is an old saying, "It's not a good idea to
engage in a pissing contest with a skunk.a"
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Once a week, a top secret briefing was given a few selected flag
officers in the Pentagon who had a need to know. It was essentially the
same brief:ing as given to the President of the United Stateso. Two flag
officers from DCNO(AIR) attended, Vice Admiral Jorn Cassady DCNO(AIR)
and Rear Admiral fuckwortho. In addi tim there were Navy captains from
DCNO(AIR) whose duties were such they also had a need to know. Che was
Captain B. E. (Berny) Moore, a classmate, and the otrer was me. Prior to
detachment from tre Pentagono, I was debriefed and told tmt in view of
intelligence information which had been given to me that I was never to
be sent into a combat area and/or anyplace where I might be subject to
capture or arresto. The Korean War was still being fought.
In order to further qualify me to perform my dutieso, I was given
orders to attend special crurses on atomic weapons to be held at Kirkland
Air Force Base in New Mexicoo. The crurse lasted about two weeks and was
attended by senior officers of the several services who rad a need to know
about the tecmical and tactical aspects of atanic weapms. Aoout thirty
officers were in the groupo. The course was comprehensive and no mlds were
barredo. That orientation course was to qualify me for an assignrrent that
was socn to come of which I knew nothing at tmt time.
At the end of World War IIo, the decisim was made to retain a U .s.
Naval presence in the Mediterranean on a perrranent basis by rotating the
ships from the Atlantic Fleeto. This force ccnsisted of a Carrier Task Force
of two or more carriers with their air groups and supportmg vesselso. It
was to have no base of operations in the area and all replenishrrent was to
be made at sea while underway. The raticnale being that the force would
be made more secure if not tied to a base and kept on the move around the
Med. Ports of call were made in most of the large seaports having facilities
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to accomrr.odate the ships and to provide recreation for the crews. In
addition to the cruisers and destroyers assigned to the Carrier Task
Forcea, about ten replenishment vessels and tankers were maintained. Tre
usual tour for a ship was about four or five monthsa. A Marine land:ing
force of abrut fifteen hundred combat ready Marines was also embarked in
t:te ships of the forcea. The experience of the British Navy in maintaining
a naval presence in the Meda. during World War II was a precarirus one and
the British Admiralty felt that the U.S. decision was a dangerrus one.
Their plan was to abandon the Med. and to establish a defense l.ine based
on a west coast port in Central Africa, probably in Angola or the Belgium
Congo, and connect it by road and rail to an Indian Ocean port at Mombasa,
Kenyaa. The U .s. believed that with the development of the atom oomb and
the mobility of naval vessels that we could hold the line in the Med. Che
day I was called to the office by the Secretary of the Navy who was then
Dan (Uncle Dan) Kimball. He outl:ined the problem and told me that the
British Admiralty was pressing hard for the U.S. to abandon the Med. and
he needed support for his case and asked me if I could provide it. I
thought for a few rr.oments and saida, "If my Special Studies Group can have
three months to work on the problem, we can come up with an answer." He
gave me the green light and we went to work.
The plan we developed was first a strategy and from it an operatim
order to implement that strategy. In the :interest of realism, we used only
the actual forces and weapons which were at that tirne available to the
Navy. That included special weapons and planes which had been modified to
fly them off the carriersa. The plan had to be top secreta. Four other
officers and I worked for three rr.onths developing tl'E plan in detaila.
Numerous visual aids with slides were developeda. One officer was assigned
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no other duty than to handle those top secret visual aids. Each officer
who worked on the development had a part in the presentation . There was
a total of five of usa. Tre presentation lasted aboot two roursa. I made
tre opening and closing remarks and fielded questions during the questicn
period which always followeda. When we were fully prepared, I notified the
aide to the Secretary and he set a time for the presentationa. It was en
a Friday afternoona, as I recalla. When it was overa, the Secretary picked
up his phme and called the Secretary of Defa1se and told him in my presence
that he wanted him to hear the presentaticna. The time and date was set
up then and there. It was to be en the following funday morning in the
Secretary of Defense's office, two days hencea. That phme call left me
somewhat disturbed for neither the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral
William Fechteler, or Vice Chief of Naval 0peratims, Admiral Dmald D.
Duncana, had seen the presentation nor do I know whether they even mew
of it. And here I was scheduled to give it to the Secretary of Defense on
S.mday. Uncle Dan was an individualist and was not concerned about going
through channels as I certainly was . When I got back to my office, I
called Admiral D.mcan' s aide and told him what had happened . Admiral
Omcan was fit to be tied and he scheduled a presmtation for himself and
the Chief of Naval 0peraticns for the next norning which was a Saturday.
Had he been asked to corrment and having never seen ita, there would have
:indeed been hell to pay. Ch Sunday morning at 10 a.m.a, we gave the presentation
to the Secretary of Defensea. After we finished, he turned to me
and said, "I have just seen the best presentation given to rre since I have
been in Washingtcn . I will arrange for you to take your team to Europe
and give the presentation to the rrajor corrmands of NATO and CINCNELM."
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The high command worked out an itinerary and wrote me a set of orders
specifying visits to CINCSOUTH in Naples, SHAPE in Paris, and CINCNELM in
London, and left otoor visits open at my discretiona. Top secret clearances
to those canrrands were arranged for all members of the team and a twinengine
bomber (PV2) with crew was placed at my disposal upon our arrival
at NAS Port Lyautey in Morocco.
Our first stop was Naples, Italy, the headquarters of Comnander in
Chief Sou th, a NATO Comnand . Admiral Mick Carney whose previous command
was CINCNELM in London was thm CINCSOUTH. His gunnery officer was Captain
S. E. (Ev) Burroughs , later rear admiral, an old friend who had served with
me on Halsey's original staff. We went over the presentatim togetrer and
he filled me in on the corrmand relations within the framework of CINCSOUTHa.
He also told me that Admiral Carney was scheduled to give a presentation
the following mmth in Paris to General Gunther and his staff at SHAPE
along similar lines as rurs. General Gunther had relieved General
Eisenhower as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in furope (SHAPE) . We
had planned in our itinerary to lay over a couple of days at Naples to see
the sightsa. A lieutenant cornrrEr1der m Admiral Carney's staff had been
assigned to guide us around Naples during our stay, which was most enjoyable.
Soon after oor presentation had been canpleted, I was called into the
office of Admiral Camey's Chief of Staff, a rear admiral in tbe U .s. Navya,
for discussion of the presentation. During that discussicn, he outlined
the plan for CINCSOUTH to give his presentatim tre following mcnth to
SHAPE and told me that it was Admiral Carney's wish that I delete my trip
to Paris and the presentaticn to SHAPE, as called for in my orders, as he
felt my presentatim would cmflict with CINCSOUTHa's presentatim.
Naturally, I was disappointed over this tum of events, but I felt that I
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should not make a protest. Since my orders were written in such a way
that I had authority to modify the itinerary as I saw fita, I agreed to the
change of plansa. When I returned to the U. S. I learned that Admiral
Carney, after seeing the presentation, rm.de the recommendation to tre Navy
Department that tre presentation be upgraded to "U.S. Eyes llily.a" However,
that recommendation presumably was never approved and we ccntinued to give
the presentation for about nme months as top secret.
The disappointment of our team in not getting to Paris was relieved
sanewhat whe1 we decided to stop over in Rome for a couple of days to ki.11
tirre before going on to London. I had notified the American Embassy in
Rome of our prospective visit and when we arrived, I went to the Embassy
to see a classmatea, Captam Tom Neblett, who was then Naval Attache to our
Ambassador to Italy. When I arrived, I learned that he was away from Rome
on an assignment but had left a note for me. The note welcomed me to Rome
and placed his bachelor apartment and an official car and chauffeur at my
disposal during my stay. It was quite a welcome to Rome which I was
delighted to accepta. After Rome we still had a weekend coming up before
having to be in Londona, so we decided to spend it in Munich. There we
went to a hotel which cur occupatim forces had taken over for use by
Arrerican military persamel. We didn't get to Garmisch l:u t we did see
the beer hall which Hitler used to frequent when he was planning his Putsch.
In London we were quartered in a mansion owned by Doris Dukea. It
had been turned over to the .American military forces at the outbreak of
the war and was still being used as an officersa' club and a hotel for
transient military perscnnela. I do not recall the name of the estate, tut
it was very old and quite large with formal gardens?? It so happened that
I landed in the rraster bedroom which had been used by Doris. I looked out
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en tre great expanse of gardens, b.lt the thing that I remembered most
was the fact that the bathroom fixtures were either gold or goldplate.
What opulence! CINCNELM was then Vice Admiral Walter F. Borne, later
admiral. He was a naval aviator. Upm the completion of our presentation
to him and memoors of his staff, he asked me to come into his office for
a chata. As soon as he had settled in his desk, he picked up the phone
and made a call. He told the persm he was talking to that re wanted the
Admiralty to see the top secret presentation which had just been given to
his staff by a team sent out by the Secretary of Defense. Then and trere
it was arranged for us to give the presentatim the next morning at the
Admiralty. It was given in the Cinerraa. At the presentation, the room
was filled with officers of tre Admiralty and all five Sea Lords were
sitting m tre front row. At the end of the presentation, we always had
a question period. As I have said, I fielded the questionsa. The Fifth
Sea Lord was then Earl Mountbatten of Burma. In his two visits to the
United States as a guest of Admiral Halsey, I had been assigned additional
duty as his aidea, so I knew him quite wella. Perhaps that may have been
one reason that his questions were so probing and somewhat criticala. Arncng
all the Sea Lords , he questicned me the mosta. At the conclusicn of the
sessiona, the First Sea Lorda, Sir Roderick McGregora, a little old weathered
Scotsmana, came up to mea, shook my hand and said I agree with every word
you said. I felt then trat the statement was made as a gesture to soften
the criticism of Earl Mountba.tten who later became the First Sea Lord, as
was his father before him. However, since our posture in tre Mediterranean
has not changed since trat time and British criticism of it has ceased,
or at least died downa, we can only conclude that all of our hard work on
the presentation was not in vain. At least it helped. We have kept at
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least two carrier groups, and at times four, ID tre Med. at all times up
until last month whm one carrier group was sent to the Indian Ocean.
[So, Mountbatten was seriously opposed to the plan.o]
Well, I wouldn't say that. The arguments he presented generally
concerned factors that we had not touched upm ID our plan. His responsibility
in general covered mining and logistics and he dwelt on tre fact
that our presentation largely skirted over them. Ours was an offensive
operatioo last:ing only a few dayso, and his responsibility as Fifth Sea
Lord covered other aspects of warfareo. He was asking questims which
our presentatim did not deal with to any great extento.
[So it wasn't hostility towards your presentation.]
No, I don't think it was real hostility. He was making points
covering his area of respmsibility as Fifth Sea Lordo.
Our presentation proved to be so well received that numerrus requests
began to cane in requestIDg it after we returned to the United Stateso.
As a result, we gave it to numerous commands during the following nine
monthso. Anong the Navy's major commands to which it was given were
Commander in Chief Atlantic Fleet, National War College, Naval War Collegeo,
Army War College, Army Staff and Conmand School, Armed Forces Staff
College, the Air University at Maxwell Field, Alabama, and otherso. At the
Air University, we had expected to receive sharp criticism, rut much to
our surprise we received a standing ovation which I was told was rarely
ever giveno. Letters of corrn:rendation were also received fran the above
commandso. When the requests for our presentation began to come ino, I
realized that for the next few rr:onths my ability to think on my feet
before a large group of professional officers and field questims, perhaps
sometimes of a critical nature, would be tested. I looked around for a
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public speaking class that I might attend at night. It so happened that
George Washington University in Washingtona, D. C., had developed a course
oo public speaking especially designed for military officers who were in
the Washington area. It took place me or two nights a week and lasted
for about three m::nthsa. The tuition for officers selected for the class
was paid for by the Department of Defense. I applied, was selected, and
joined the next classa. Officers from all services were in attendance and
the instructor knew the needs of the students and was excellent. Every-
me stood on his feet during each class and talked on some subject given
to them only a few minutes before. On the last night of the class, which
was supposed to be oor graduation exercise, a contest was held and each
student was told to talk for five minutes on his favorite charity. Each
of us was to put a dollar in the pot and at the end a vote would be taken
by the stude1.ts to decide who made the best talk and he would pick up the
pot. For my talk I selected Multiple Sclerosisa. It was something I had
seen in action and was very vivid in my recollection because for five
years I had seen fran time to time my mother-in-law develop creeping
paralysis from the disease. I had noticed when she visited Bette and me
at Lee Field that her gait was becoming unsteady and her speech slurred.
I had seen her periodically for the five years following when her cmdition
worsened and she became bedridden :in her home and finally had to
have nurses around the clock. During that time the paralysis steadily
increased and literally turned her body to stmea. Before tre enda, the
only parts of her body she cmtrolled were her eyesa. The scene was
indeed a depressing one. I described the details which I had actually
witnessed for my graduation exercise. At the end, I collected the pot of
$25 and donated it to tt'E Multiple Sclerosis Foundationa. I do not attribute
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my winning the pot to any superiority of speechmaking rut rather to having
been an eye witness to one of life's tragedies and having reen able to
vividly describe what I had oooerved. However, there was a certain arrount
of satisfaction in the :knowledge that the Harvard professor's original
classification of my speaking abilities as "hopeless" had become outdated.
EAST CAROLINA MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW
RADM WILLIAM H. ASHFORD, JR., USN(RET)
INTERVIEW #8
JANUARY 21o, 1981
Some months after having been head of the Long-Range Planning
Branch (OP504), I realized that there was a need for a unit under the
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air which would make analyses
of our air weapons systems and recommend technical improvements as
well as improvements in tactical employment of aircraft carriers.
Any technical analysis should of course be carried out in conjunction
with the Bureau of Aeronautics--our technical bureau. I finally put
my thoughts into a letter of recommendation to DCNO(AIR) (OP05). For
several months, I heard nothing from my letter but one day a short
letter was received from DCNO(AIR) giving approval and further directing
that the new unit be given the designation of 05W and called the Air
Weapons System Analysis Staff. It was to replace the then existing
Long-Range Planning Branch, of which I was the head, and be given elevated
status. All personnel in the branch would be retained and only
the name and some of the duties changed. That was not exactly what I
expected, but in retrospect we did not actually have the up-to-date
intelligence to make long-range plans which was the prerogative of the
planning staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We were well equipped to
carry out our new role, however, particularly now that we could call on
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the Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics for technical support. The
functions and authority of 05W continued to expand and today it is one
of the most influential units in DCNO(AIR). I was relieved in that
job by an outstanding officer who later became Commander in Chief Pacific
and the Chief of Naval Operations. He was Admiral Roy Johnson.
A few months after General Eisenhower was inaugurated as president
in January, 1953, he decided to have an indepth review of the military
services by holding a critique. Each of the four services, Army,
Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, were alloted one hour in which to
make whatever presentations they desired to the Commander in Chief.
The location for the forthcoming presentations was the Marine base at
Quantico, Virginia. The Navy divided its alloted time into four or five
parts. Twenty minutes was assigned for a presentation of the fast
carrier task force operations. The other forty minutes was divided among
other operations of the Navy. I was called in and told to prepare and
make the carrier presentation. The same study group that prepared the
top-secret Mediterranean presentation went to work on it. The Secretary
of the Navy, Mr. Charles S. Thomas, called for a rehearsal of the Navy
presentations the afternoon before we were to deliver them to President
Eisenhower at Quantico. The rehearsal took place in the Secretary's
office. All of the presentations except mine were given by flag officers.
When it was all over, I returned to my office and was about to
leave for the day (about 5 p.m.), when an officer came in and told me
that the Secretary has decided that the Navy's major presentation must
be given by a flag officer and that I was to turn the material over to
Rear Admiral James S. Russell. He later became Chief of the Bureau of
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Aeronautics and went on to become the Vice-Chief of Naval Operations
with four stars under Admiral Arleigh Burke. Naturally, I was disap
pointed to be deprived of the opportunity of giving a presentation to
President Eisenhower, but if there was anyone that I would rather defer
to, my choice would have been my old friend Jim Russell. We were
ensigns together on the old battleship WEST VIRGINIA. We had hiked
together over the backside of Mount Ranier for a week and I had visited
in his home on American Lake, near Tacoma, Washington, many times. We
have been lifelong friends. I went over to Jim's office with all my
material including the visual aids and we rolled up our sleeves and
went to work on the briefing process. We took a short break for dinner
and went back to our task, working well into the night. Jim did a
great job and the presentation was well received.
A couple of years later when I made the decision to request early
voluntary retirement from the Navy because of the serious illness of my
wife, Bette, and baby, Pam, I received a most complimentary letter from
Mr. Thomas, the Secretary of the Navy, voicing regret over my decision
to request retirement. I prize his letter which has been framed and
hangs over my desk.
In June of 1953, my tour of duty in the Pentagon was nearing an
end and I was hoping to get command of an Essex class carrier. To my
pleasant surprise, I received orders to command the USS MIDWAY. She,
along with her sister ships, the FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT and the CORAL SEA,
were then the largest naval vessels in the world and they were also our
newest carriers. The MIDWAY was soon to come out of the Navy yard at
Portsmouth, Virginia, after minor overhaulo. After shakedown with a new
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crew at the Guantanamo Bay area, she was slated for a tour in the Med.
and I was to be aboard as prospective commanding officer a little after
joining up with the Sixth Fleet at which time I was to relieve my
classmate, Captain C. S. ("Cliff") Cooper. It was usual procedure for
a prospective commanding officer on the larger carriers to spend a
couple of weeks aboard as prospective commanding officer before taking
command. I didn't know then but learned later that the selection of
commanding officers of the MIDWAY class carriers was made by three flag
officers who were naval aviators stationed in the Pentagon. One of
them was the Aviation Detail Officer. They comprised a mini-selection
board and met in the Bureau of Personnel and went over the records of
eligible naval aviators. Captain Roy Johnson was due to report as my
relief in July and since I was not to report to the MIDWAY before December
or January, a new billet was created for me for those six months.
It was called the Progress Review Section (O5C)o. I reported
directly to the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air, Vice Admiral
Ralph A. Ofstie. He had been Admiral Halsey's Air Operations officer
when Admiral Halsey took over his first sea command after promotion to
rear admiralo. That was Carrier Division 2 consisting of the YORKTOWN and
the ENTERPRISE and supporting vessels. I was the Flag Lieutenant. My
temporary job was somewhat unique. The Korean War was in full swing and
the tug of war between the services in their battle for funds was fierce.
General LeMay was still trying to get operational control of the
carriers for the U.S. Air Force. The Navy had some good friends in the
Congress who were fighting its battles. At times they required specific
information covering controversial issues being discussed in committee
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hearings. My boss, Vice Admiral Ralph Ofstie, called me into his office
and told me that my job would be to prepare position papers for use of
the Navy's friends on the Hill and I was to have a direct contact with
a certain Congressman who was an influential member of the House Armed
Service Committee. He further stated that if it became known that I
was feeding the information into him directly he would have to disown me
as if I were a spy. He asked me if I'd like to take on the job under
those conditions and I told him that I would. As a matter of fact,
the direct contact was to be used only as an emergency measure in case
time did not permit the information to go through channels. Normally
the proper channel was to be through the Office of Public Information
of the Navy and I never had to carry out the emergency procedure. I
was to take an office in an inconspicuous location on the fifth floor
of the Pentagon and was to have only a secretary to transcribe my work.
So, the last six months of my tour in the Pentagon was spent for the
most part in semi-isolation grinding out material for the battles being
waged on Capitol Hillo.
While in this temporary job, the most extensive and largest fleet
exercises ever undertaken by the fourteen countries in NATO took place.
The scenario was to be a large scale naval and air attack on the British
Isles. NATO forces were divided into two groups--assault and defense
forces. Land-based air in NATO countries were used in the defense of the
British Isles. Both forces were under the overall command of the Supreme
Allied Commander Atlantic, a NATO command who was and still is the
Commander in Chief Atlantic--a U.S. command. The tactical command of the
assault group was given to Vice Admiral Thomas Selby Combs embarked in
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the USS NORTH CAROLINA. He was a naval aviator and would shortly take
command of the Sixth Fleet in the Med. The U.S. and Canada provided
the carriers and a majority of the surface forces in the assault group.
The defense forces were under the tactical command of a NATO commander
who was English. The operation was to last about two weeks at the end
of which a critique was to be held in Portsmouth, England, in order to
evaluate the exercise, outline the lessons learned and to come up with
recommendations for improvement.
Shortly before the operation was to begin, Ralph Ofstie called me
into his office and said that the Secretary of the Navy had decided to
give maximum publicity to the media by inviting some sixty newspaper
and magazine correspondents to witness the operation embarked in U.??.
naval vessels as his guests. He further stated that I would go along
and have the responsibility of briefing the correspondents on the daily
progress of the exercise. The correspondents from the largest metropolitan
newspapers and the most important magazines like Time, Newsweek,
Fortune, Life, and so forth, about thirty in a 11 , would be aboard the
USS NORTH CAROLINA. I was to be in the NORTH CAROLINA also.
[The NORTH CAROLINA had not been put in mothballs that late?]
No. This was in 1953. The correspondents of the weekly newspapers
and less important dailies and magazines were to be quartered in one of
the Essex-class carriers in Rear Admiral Hugh Goodwin's carrier task
force which included a Canadian carrier. The NORTH CAROLINA was then
1
commanded by Captain t1ayne R. Loud (o1Rosy11
), a classmate. When I
reported aboard, he greeted me and said that since he would be occupying
his sea cabin near the bridge during the entire operation he was placing
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his cabin be1ow-decks at my disposa1o. The NORTH CAROLINA had been
bui1t as a f1agship and the admiral and captain1
s cabins were quite
spacious. The correspondents had been assigned office space equipped
with typewriters and given yeomen assistance for preparing their press
re1eases. I decided that in order to keep the media up-to-date on the
fast moving events encompassing the North At1antic, two briefings wou1d
be held daily--one at 10 a.m. and the other at 4 p.m. The briefings
were he1d in the captain's cabin and it was arranged that coffee and
tea would be available at a11 times and I invited the correspondents
to use the cabin with its comfortable chairs and couches as a p1ace of
relaxation. They were most appreciative of that courtesy and many bull
sessions of mutual interest were held. They created better understanding
of the Navy by the media and improved our rapport with them. The thirtyodd
correspondents on the carrier were not bypassed, however, for it was
arranged that I wou1d visit them via the NORTH CAROLINA's helicopter,
periodica11y, and brief them also.
During the first phase of the operation when our attack force was
somewhere between Newfoundland and Ice1and, a serious situation
developed which a1most ended in the worst peacetime disaster in the
history of naval aviation. The carrier group had about fifty planes in
the air and when recovery time approached in the late afternoon, a fog
began to close in. The carriers increased speed to a maximum of about
thirty knots running downwind in an attempt to get enough visibility for
the recovery. However, the wind speed was about thirty-five knots and
the fog became pea soup thick just about the time the planes arrived
overhead. The force was hundreds of miles from any land. It so
-235
happened that on that particular day I had gone to one of the carriers
for a briefing of the correspondents embarked and was able to witness
the events that followed firsthand. The carrier commanded by Captain
Patrick Henry, a classmate, was the flagship of the carrier task group
commanded by Rear Admiral Hugh Goodwin. An attempt was made to bring
one plane in for a landing in the fog by giving the pilot directions
by voice communications in CIC (Combat Information Center), well
below decks, using radar to position the plane in the groove. The
ship headed into the wind at steerageway speed. That procedure had
never been attempted before to my knowledge but the situation was now
bordering on the desperate. Just prior to this attempt a message was
received by the carrier task group commander from the Canadian carrier
commander requesting that he assume operations control of the fourteen
Canadian planes then overhead which were part of the flight waiting to
land. Admiral Goodwin did. I went from the bridge to CIC to observe
the situation there. The air officer took charge and only the voice
of the controller was heard. The place was like a morgue but the discipline
was excellent. As the plane came into the groove and neared the
carrier, it had to be given a steer away from the ship because the
pilot still could not see the ship and there was danger of his crashing
into it. After this attempt, the carrier task force commander realized
that there was no possibility of getting the planes aboard in the fog
which then blanketed the area. The submarine which was part of our
force, I believe it was the USS PIKE, was some one hundred miles away.
It was there primarily as a rescue vessel for downed pilots and crews.
Admiral Goodwin reluctantly gave the carrier air group commander
-236
instructions to take the airborne group to the PIKE, and make water
landings nearby. He gave him a steer to the PIKE. It is doubtful if
a carrier task force commander ever had to give a more difficult order.
Darkness was approaching, the seas were heavy and the PIKE was some hundred
miles away. In my opinion, I do not believe that many pilots
would have survived the water landing due to the heavy seas.
[Wasn't the fog heavy where the PIKE was too?]
No, the PIKE was in a clear area. Soon after the order was given
for the air group to seek out the PIKE in a location that was clear of
the fog, the force which had been headed in a thirty-five knot wind at
steerageway speed was ordered to increase speed to maximum and continue
on course. In doing this it was hoped that the force would clear the
foggy area by running through it. This maneuver in itself was a gamble
due to the risk of collision by steaming at high speed in a fog. I
went back to the bridge and awaited developments. I did not have long
to wait for in a few minutes the force emerged from the fog into a cleared
area and when I looked up, lo and behold, there was our carrier group
which I had assumed would be near the PIKE by that time. It was now
about dusk and a 11 planes were given a "Charley, 11 the s i gna 1 to 1 and
aboard. We landed all planes aboard, including the Canadian planes.
Their carrier had not been able to make the speed of the U.S. taskforce
and had not yet cleared the fog. The next day I returned to the NORTH
CAROLINA by helicopter. That afternoon, Admiral Coombs called a conference
in which he stated that after man had done his best, a Divine
Providence had come to the rescue and saved our force from probably
what would have been the worst disaster in naval aviation history. I
-237
doubt that anyone who witnessed the scene would disagree. At that
conference, the correspondents embarked on the NORTH CAROLINA were in
attendance.
[The planes that were in the air, could they get above the fog?]
They were above the fog.
[It looks like they could have spotted an open area and directed
the carriers toward the area.]
I was not privy to all communications that took place but I
rather suspect that the planes, since they were overhead when the fog
cleared had spotted an open area and had given the carriers a steer.
I had been down in CIC and was surprised to see them overhead in a
clear area when I went back on deck.
[In moving from steerage to full speed ahead undoubtedly the
carrier had been advised that there was a clear space ahead.]
That must have been what happened. The planes saved themselves
by helping the carrier to find a location where they could land. It
was just about dark when they landed aboard.
As our force approached the British Isles, it was sighted by longrange
search planes which were land-based in England and Scotland. The
carriers began a highspeed approach when about five hundred miles away
from their assigned targets. The weather became overcast with a low
ceiling which would offer protection on the run in, however, flight
conditions at that time were marginalo. Early in the morning of D-Day,
the carriers launched their attack groups with orders to attack a number
of targets widely separated. Priority was given to airfields. The plan
was to go in at very low altitude to avoid being picked up on radar.
-238
That was done and the low ceiling continued to provide concealment from
the long-range search planes flying above the overcast. As a result the
attack was successful in almost all cases and the defending forces were
taken by surprise. It was a resounding victory for the attack force.
The speed and mobility of the carriers had again prevailed over fixed
installations and defenses.
[In a case when you come in for a training exercise like that, do
the planes actually drop some kind of dye or something to show that
they have been successful or is it just a fly-over type of thing?]
Of course in an exercise, you probably wouldn't have radio silence
but in wartime you would have radio silence. No dye. They make simulated
attacks. The type of attack depends on the target and type of
plane making the attack.
If it was a dive-bombing attack, they would actually make a simulated
dive-bombing attack. If it was a torpedo attack, they would do the
same but they wouldn't drop a torpedo. The opposition will always know
whether they are under attack or not. The time and description of the
attacks is precisely documented by assigned observers, and brought out
in the critique.
Upon completion of the exercises, the NORTH CAROLINA and many
other ships put into Portsmouth Harbor for the critique which lasted
two or three days. During our stay in Portsmouth, I had an opportunity
to go aboard the H.M.S. VICTORY, Lord Nelson's flagship at the battle
of Trafalgar. The ship was on land in the Portsmouth Navy Yard and had
become a national shrine. The official guide who showed visitors around
the ship was an imposing figure. He was a sergeant-major in the Royal
-239
Marines dressed in ceremonial uniform, carrying a swagger stick, and
very proud of his official status. He showed us the spot on deck where
Lord Nelson received his mortal wound during the battle from sniper
fire. He pointed out a hole in the deck where the Germans had dropped
a bomb during World War II that proved to be a dud. It penetrated the
ship and the ground below. He also showed us the bed which Lady Hamilton
had given Lord Nelson. I was surprised at Lord Nelson's small size.
The ship had many interesting features too numerous to mention here.
I have never known the origin of the term 11
head11 which the Navy always
uses to designate a toilet. The sergeant-major told us. The ship had
a bowsprit extending well forward of the ship's bow which was used for
supporting the jib sailo. It was also used by the ship's crew to
relieve calls of nature--hence the term 1
head11 which is still widely
1
used in the British and the U.S. navies. In fact its use now appears
to be somewhat universal in both military and civilian life.
Following the critique, the ships separated and went to various
Scandinavian and other North European ports for rest and relaxation-Roand
R. The NORTH CAROLINA headed for Copenhagen. I had never been
there and wanted very much to go along but it was not so stated in my
orders so I returned to "Uncle Sugar" by air using FLOGWINGS. On my
return flight, I invited the Time correspondent to return with me. I'd
got to know him very well. So it was back to my hole in the Pentagon.
The cruise and my job of briefing the embarked correspondents had been
most interesting and instructive and I felt that the Navy's image had
been improved considerably in the opinion of the media, as a result.
-240
Many jokes have been told about life in the Pentagon. One afternoon
I was crossing the courtyard inside the Pentagon at the end of the
working hours. Walking just ahead of me was a black man and a woman
and the man was talking rapidly and excitedly to his companion. He
was furious about something that had taken place during the day and
was highly agitated. I was close enough to hear him say and I quote,
11
I'll tell you the God's truth. This here Pentagon is a madhouse and
the people in it is all plum crazy. It's the only lunatic asylum in
the world what is run by its own inmates."
Prior to my detachment from DCNO(AIR)o, I had been ordered to
attend a fleet school in Boston, Mass.,for about two weeks. That
school was designed as a refresher course for prospective commanding
officers of ships. The elements stressed most were ship handling,
damage control, navigation, and anti-submarine warfare tactics. About
twenty-five prospective commanding officers were in attendance at that
particular session. We were quartered in the YMCA in Boston and classes
were held in the same building. One of the principle features of the
course was an electronic simulator which set up a piloting problem in
restricted waters and the student maneuvered his ship in order to
avoid collisions with other vessels. The ships were depicted on a
screen and when a student made a bad decision and a collision occurred,
a bell would ring and a big howl would go up from those in attendance.
The device created a lot of interest.
In December of 1953, I was detached and given some leave and
ordered to report to Norfolk as prospective C.O. of the MIDWAY. The
ship, after completing a minor overhaul, had gone to Guantanamo Bay,
-241
Cuba, for training exercises with a green crew and had returned to
Norfolk for the holidays. Bette had given birth to our daughter, Pam,
at Bethesda Naval Hospital only a month before my detachment and both
seemed to be doing well. Later events proved otherwise.
On 3 January 1954 I reported aboard and on 4 January the MIDWAY
with accompanying vessels sailed for Gibraltar to relieve those vessels
due to return to the continental U.S. The passage to Gibraltar as
prospective commanding officer gave me a good opportunity to familiarize
myself with the inner workings of the ship. Accordingly, accompanied by
my Marine orderly, I toured the ship from stem to stern and felt that I
had a good knowledge of the ship by the time we reached Gibraltar.
A normal tour for ships in the Sixth Fleet in the Med. was about
four months. The carrier BENNINGTON was due to relieve the MIDWAY when
our tour was up, but that was not to be. It came about this way.
Shortly before the BENNINGTON was to depart the continental U.S., she
suffered a serious catapult accident while engaged in exercises. The
catapult exploded killing about 160 people and inflicting serious damage
to the ship which entered the Navy Yard for repairs. The commanding
officer was Captain William F. Raborn, Jr. (11
Red11
), later vice-admiral
and in charge of the Polaris development program. Since there was no
other carrier to relieve the MIDWAY, we were advised that we would stay
on for a second tour. So we were to take two swings around the Med.
instead of one.
We departed Norfolk on 4 January and returned on 4 August giving
us a total of seven months. I will list our ports of call in sequence:
Gibraltar, Algiers, Augusta, Taranto, Salonika, and Athens (Pireus--the
-242
port of Athens), Cannes, and Barcelona. At this time we began our
second tour and visited Genoa, Leghorn, Gibraltar, Palermo, Naples,
Tangier, Marseille, Cannes, Gibraltar, and back home to Norfolk. During
those seven months, practically two-thirds of the time was spent conducting
exercises at sea and one-third of the time was spent in port.
While at sea, flight operations were conducted daily and most every
night also--weather permitting. All fueling and replenishment operations
of the entire fleet were conducted while underway at sea. Our home port
remained Norfolk, consequently dependents who tried to follow the fleet,
only a few did, received no reimbursement from the Navy. Travel and
subsistence was at their own expense and the opportunities to be with
their husbands were few and far between.
The MIDWAY had been in the Med. on six previous tours and was a
familiar site in most large Mediterranean ports. She was a mobile
strategic arm of America's foreign policy in the area. At this point
it may be well to comment on-the composition of the air group because
the destructive power of an air group such as that embarked on the MIDWAY
is awesome and its capabilities are many and varied. Our air group
consisted of the following units with missions as indicated: one
squadron of MacDonald-built jet Banshee fighter bombers--they had longrange
and were all-weather planes and night-fighters; two squadrons of
Grumman Cougar jet fighter planes--they had high speed and were used
principally as interceptors and flew combat air patrol over the fleet
during the operation; and one squadron of dive-bombers (Douglas Sky
Raiders). The Sky Raider was the work-horse of carrier aviation and had
the greatest weight-lifting power of any single-engine aircraft in the
-243
world at that time. It also provided close air support for landing
forces. It was a propeller-type plane with a reciprocating engine.
There were three composite squadrons, each having special missions.
The mission of one was to extend the radar capabilities of the ship by
providing airborne early warning. It flew in any type of weather.
Another was used principally for electronic countermeasures, antisubmarine
warfare, and path-finding. The other consisted of specially
equipped Banshee jet fighters used for photo-reconnaisance. It was
equipped with intricate photo devices. There was a helicopter unit
used for rescue missions and transportations between ships. Those
planes were always the first to be launched and the last to land and
they were well equipped to do the job of rescuing downed pilots and plane
crews. There were several three-engine long-range planes having two
props and one jet engine. They were designed for special purposes.
That plane was called the Savage.
Normally tactical control of each squadron or unit, when airborne,
rested with the squadron or unit commander. However, when operating as
an air group in exercises or combat, the Air Group Commander took over
tactical control and coordinated the movements of all units. Aboard
ship, his administrative duties were to coordinate the activities of
the embarked squadrons and act as liason between the squadron commanders
and the ship's personnelo. He had a small staff of specialists to
insure maximum performance of the air group. He was Commander C. H.
Clark, an outstanding officer who kept squadron morale high during
extensive periods of operational activity. There was also a Marine
detachment aboard which was attached to the gunnery department. The
-244
complement of the MIDWAY was approximately thirty-two hundred officers
and men
. When the ai
r group was embarked
, the fi
gure rose to about
thirty-eight hundred. The ship was mother to more than one hundred
aircraft. It was a veritable floating city, completely self-contained.
It was the custom for ships being rel
ieved upon completion of
their tour of the Med. to rendezvous with their reliefs at Gibraltar.
After rel
ieving our counterparts there, we sailed for Algiers and the
MIDWAY tied up to the dock in that port. It was here that the change-incommand
ceremony took place and I relieved Cliff Cooper as commanding
officer of the MIDWAY. The officers of the ship gave Cl
iff a send-off
party ashore
. Cl
iff pl
ayed the pi
ano wel
l and al
l hands gathered around
while he played and songs were sung. The captain's cabin on the MIDWAY
contained a piano and Cliff played it often in moments of relaxation
in port
.
Algeria was at that time in a state of political turmoil and had
lined up with the Soviet Union. Because of the uneasy political situation
and the fact that we were tied up_ to the dock, I allowed no visiting
and had some sixteen sentries posted at visible locations around the
ship on a twenty-four-hour basis. They were armed with rifles as a
deterrent in the unlikely event that an unruly mob might cause trouble.
[I'm surpri
sed that you al
l woul
d conti
nue to use Al
geri
a as a
port of cal
l there in the mi
ddl
e of the Col
d War when Al
geri
a was
aligned with the Soviet Union.]
She still is aligned with the Soviet Union. We never stopped
using it. They hadn't backed us out of the Mediterranean and we don't
intend to be. There were no incidents during our stay at Algiers. It
-245
may be that I was just a little overcautious, but I was the new commanding
officer and I not only posted sentries, but I did not attend the
party ashore that night for Cliff Cooper but the Admiral attended.
decided that I wanted to stay aboard and I just did not want to take
any chances. Later the Consul General at Algiers gave a formal dinner
party in my honor which I did attend after I took command. He filled
me in then on the political situation in Algeria, but the highlight
of our visit was a conducted tour through the mysterious casbah by an
old timer English guide. Algiers is divided into two sections--the
casbah, an old Turkish section, and the modern city of French construction.
The population is a conglomeration of ethnic cultures and a
dozen different nationalities. The worldly wise little street urchins
usually spoke several different languages including English. Most
people spoke French.
Our next port of call was Augusta, Sicily. Because of its excellent
harbor, it was also a naval base for the Italian Navy. The harbor was
large enough to accommodate all ships of the Sixth Fleet and all
relieving ships were there in port together. Normally ships of the
Fleet divided up when going into port for recreation in order not to
overtax the port facilities. At Augusta, the commanding officers and
executive officers of all the incoming ships met for briefing sessions
conducted by the Commander of the Logistics Support Group attached to
the Sixth Fleet who was Captain Monty Price, a classmate of mine. The
briefings were detailed and covered just about every subject that would
assist us at sea and in port during our forthcoming tour. Captain
Price1
s command consisted of all of the supply ships and tankers assigned
-246
to the Sixth Fleet. His duties as Commander of the Support Group well
qualified him to give us the word on what we might expect. He conducted
a series of briefings followed by question periods. Augusta was a
typical Sicilian fishing village of about twenty thousand people located
near the slopes of Mount Etna. It was, however, from a point of interest,
only a stepping stone to the renowned cities of Syracuse, Catania, and
Taormina.
One of the most fascinating places I visited in the Medfterranean
basin was the ancient city of Syracuse--once numbering a million people.
It was the birthplace of Christianity. I visited its network of catacombs
and saw the chamber where Christ's disciples, Peter and Paulo,
held their meetings in secret with a small band of Christian converts.
Some inscriptions on the rock wall were said to have been put there by
the disciples themselves. Many of the ruins of the monumental structures
from past civilizations are well preserved and the Greek theater,
the Latemia del Paradiso, is one of the largest in the world.
Catania nearby is the second largest city in Sicily. It is situated
at the foot of Mount Etna and has been destroyed several times by volocanic
eruptions from that volcano which is still active. On a previous
visit, made when I commanded the Fleet Logistic Airwings, I had flown
over the smoking crater. It came as a surprise to see how many homes
had been built up the sides of the mountain in order to cultivate the
fertile soil--despite the risk of living on the brink of an active
volcano.
Taormina today is a favorite tourist attraction and retirement
community for the "in" people. It is situated in one of the most
-247
beautiful natural settings one can imagine. The fact was appreciated
by the ancient Greek and Roman aristocrats who used it as a resort
haven.
From Augusta we put into Taranto after extensive exercises at sea.
We were there only a couple of days and the weather was lousy. There
was nothing much of interest to see. Taranto is a good sized city
situated on the instep of the boot of Italy. It has a spacious harbor
which can accommodate most of the Italian fleet, and the second largest
naval arsenal in Italy is based there. It was founded by Sparta in the
seventh century B.C. An Italian naval headquarters is also located
there.
It was about this time that I received a most disturbing letter
from my wife Bette. Out daughter, Pam, had been born about six weeks
before I sailed for the Med. and everything then seemed fine. Now she
wrote that the baby was not gaining weight as she should be doing and
was very fretful and suffering from severe diarrhea. As the situation
worsened, Pam was put in the Naval Hospital at Bethesda, Maryland, under
the care of Dr. Cone, one of the Navy's foremost pediatricians, for
diagnosis. This event was the beginning of a series of my family's
personal problems which would eventually require me to request early
voluntary retirement from the Navy and to seek employment in the private
sector. A few weeks later, a letter arrived giving the diagnosis as
celiac disease. The disease was very rare as there were probably not
more than a dozen known cases in the United States at that time. However,
the disease had been known to medical science for some ninety years.
Essentially it is an immaturity of the intestinal tract whereby the
-248
child is not getting enough nourishment from its food intake and is
literally starving. There is no known cure and the cause is not known.
The only recourse is to try and get enough nourishment into the child
to prevent starvation or malformation. Fortunately the disease had
been classified by a woman, Dr. Campbell of Columbia University, into
five different types and Pam's pediatrician at Bethesda, Dr. Cone,
Commander U.S. Navy Medical Corps, had studied at Columbia under Dr.
Campbell. He finally reached his diagnosis by eliminating other possible
causes of her illness. In Pam's case it was learned that she received
no nourishment from milk or wheat products and several other foods.
It also developed that about the only food that her body could gain
nourishment from was bananas. Of all the foods, a ripe banana is the
most easily digested food in Nature. For four years she lived on powdered
bananas. When her weight reached about thirteen pounds, she
stopped gaining for about three years. Her belly was bloated and her
little legs were like froglegs. It was touch and go for those three
years whether or not she would survive or develop some malformation.
The disease is so rare that there are only a few doctors in the country
who have had firsthand knowledge of it. Bette and I have always felt
that if she had not been in the care of Dr. Cone, who had intimate
knowledge of the celiac disease, Pam would never have survived. There
was another aspect of the disease. Should the child survive until the
age of about five, the intestinal tract then functions normally and the
child becomes perfectly normal in all respects. Today Pam is twentyseven
years old and is as healthy as anyone I know. But there is one
item of food she never touches--bananas.
-249
Our exercises and air operations at sea were as strenuous as any
I have undertaken in my naval career--even with those during the first
year of World War II on the ENTERPRISE. The Navy requires all combatant
ships to go through a long series of exercises annually to test and
determine the combat readiness of combatant ships. Virtually every
department of the ship is involved, although air operation, gunnery,
navigation, engineering, and ship handling are emphasized most on the
carriers. Each type of combatant ship competes with the others of its
type class. A complicated point system is used. Scores are kept and
many of the exercises are witnessed and checked by neutral observers
from other ships. The ship having the highest score in its respective
cl ass received a battle efficiency pennant ca 11 ed a "meat ball II which
it is allowed to fly for a year from its mast until another ship emerges
as the winner of that class. The ships of the Atlantic Fleet, that is
the Second Fleet, compete with each other and the ships of the Pacific
Fleet--First Fleet--do the same. The competition is keen. Some ships
require more than a year to complete the required operations and exercises.
Others take less time. In the case of the MIDWAY, by the time
that I was relieved after eight months we had completed the required
operations for the year and the MIDWAY received the top score for
Atlantic Fleet carriers and flew the "meat ba 11o11 during 1955.
Following combined operations in the Aegean Sea, the Sixth Fleet
put into Pharalon Bay near Athens where it was reviewed by King Paul
and Queen Fredrika of Greece. They toured the Bay in the royal yacht
and all ships "manned the railo11
--something only done by official visits
of royalty or heads of state. It was an impressive sight. I have a
-250
picture of the royal yacht coming close aboard the MIDWAY when the rail
was manned.
Our next port of call was Salonika, an old city founded in 315 B.C.
In 1937, the name was officially changed to Thessalonika. The Romans
built a military highway through the city in the first century which
served as the connecting link to the east. It is still in existence.
I learned that the duck hunting was good in Greece and being an
avid duck hunter, a hunting trip with a Gree?? guide was arranged. With
a couple of officers from the MIDWAY, we took off one morning in our
jeep (we always carried one aboard along with the two official cars-one
for the Admiral and one for the commanding officer). After a good
day's hunt, we ended up at the headquarters of a Greek major general
who commanded a division of Greek troops on the Thessalonian Plain, the
traditional route taken by the Bulgars and others when they invaded
Greece from the north. I sat with the general in his tent and we
talked of the strained political situation then existing in Greece
which included the communist guerrilla movement inside the country.
asked the general what he thought of the prospect of a communist invasion
from the north down the Thessalonian Plain in support of the
guerrilla movement. His answer was short, his eyes blazed, he pounded
his fists on the table and he said in a low vibrant voice, "They shall
not pass." He convinced me that the Greeks meant business.
We had an opportunity on our hunting trip to see something of the
native life in rural Greece, something that most tourists rarely see.
The people lived in dire poverty. There is little available land
suitable for agriculture in Greece and the population is increasing
-251
rapidly. The average rural farm consists of about six or seven acres of
land. When a son of the owner marries, he is generally given a parcel
of land for his farm. As the process continues, the time arrives when
the available land will not support the family and something has to
give. The Greeks however are a proud people and are very conscious of
their heritage. They are devoted to their native land, and immigrants
usually sent money back to their relatives.
They are excellent fighters and it is indeed fortunate that the
recent military coup in Turkey succeeded in settling the Cypress dispute
to the extent that Greece has now returned to NATO after a six-year absence.
Greece and Turkey are the bastions of the southern flank of NATO and the
role they can play is vital to NATO's effectiveness. Greece had previously
announced that if she was not allowed to return to NATO by the
spring of 1981o, the four U.S. bases in Greece would be closed. As you
know, she had to withdraw from NATO after she had been blackballed by
Turkey because of the Cypress dispute. Historically, the military in
Turkey has been conservative and the new government's decision to lift
the blackball of Greece's participation in NATO is vital to the continued
health of the NATO alliance.
Hhile in Salonika, I gave a dinner party aboard ship for the U.S.
Consul General and Mrs. John B. Holt. Also present were the vice consul
and his wife and several Greek dignitaries including northern Greece's
Secretary of Defense and a corp commander in the Greek National Army.
In almost every port the men of the MIDWAY entertained orphans
aboard in what became known as our "orphan parties." The MIDWAY's
"orphan parties" had become well known around the Med. as the ship had
-252
been giving them during several previous tours. The procedure followed
was to notify established orphanages of ports to be visited and issue
invitations for a specified number of orphans to visit the ship. Each
child was assigned a "duty daddy11 for the day of the visit who took
the child in tow during its stay aboard. Each child was given a toy,
a meal was served, movies were shown, and a concert was held aboard.
I think the men got as much of a kick out of the visits as the kids
did. Each child generally ended up with a sailor's white hat. The
men of the MIDWAY seemed glad to share what they had with others. One
of our "orphan parties11 was covered in detail by CBS-TV.
Our next port was Pireus, the port of Athens. There was much
sightseeing for all hands and quite a few parties were given in our
honor in Athens. During one of the parties ashore, I met the U.S.
Vice Consul and his wife. It turned out that she was from Atlanta,
Georgia, and I happened to mention that I had a first cousin there who
was a pediatrician, Dr. Julian Waters. She said that he was her pediatrician
and she thought that there was no one else quite like him.
She then offered to take me shopping. She was considered to be very
knowledgeable in shopping for furs in Athens and I readily accepted.
After looking at many shops, she spotted a Stone Martin stole from
Russia and advised me to buy it, which I did. Bette still has it and
considers it one of her prize possessions.
During our extensive operations in the Aegean, we had three high
ranking Turkish naval officers aboard as our guests. During our sevenmonth
cruise, we embarked high ranking naval and military officers
from virtually all NATO countries as guests of the MIDWAY to witness our
air operations at sea.
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For a week in March, the MIDWAY was anchored in the harbor at
Cannes and we had an opportunity to see something of the fabulous French
Riviera. Our visits in port were always preceded by many long hours of
both day and night carrier operations and usually when the ship reached
port, the skipper at least was pretty well exhausted. Nevertheless,
there was always a round of entertaining both ashore and aboard ship
where my presence was expected, so there was no rest for the weary.
On one occasion during a long exercise at sea, I was on the bridge
a total of fifty-four hours without sleep and reached the point where
my mental alertness was dulled to the point that I could not make
quick decisions. When I realized this, I called for my executive
officer, Commander James H. Armstrong, a naval aviator who had recently
been navigator on the Coral Sea, and told him to take over my sea cabin
and act for me. I further said that I had to go below to my cabin and
get some sleep and was to be called only in the case of an emergency.
This occurred only once, but the pressures on all the force became so
great that the Commander of the Sixth Fleet had to step in and slow
down the tempo.
In Cannes, it was an impressive sight just to stroll along the
docks berthing the private yachts and boats. Never have I seen such a
display of opulence in the form of boats and yachts. In discussing
the matter with a knowledgeable Frenchman, I was told that one reason
for the extensive array of private sea-going vessels was the fact that
the British government had restricted the amount of currency an Englishman
could take out of the country to just a few pounds. Before that law
went into effect, however, many wealthy Englishmen had converted their
-254
property to cash, taken it aboard their yachts and sailed for Tangier
or Gibraltar and deposited it in banks there. They then sailed to Cannes
and lived on their yachts and boats. It was the "life of Riley" for the
very wealthy. When their money supply became low, they would sail to
Gib. or Tangier and replenish the larder. Many other Englishmen during
that period transferred their holdings to Rhodesia, Australia, and New
Zealand and took up residency in those countries. During this visit,
I received an invitation to attend a dinner party at the Cannes Casino
given by Mrs. Gould, an American lady who lived in Gould Plaza, or
whatever the name was called, at Juan les Pins. The Plaza had been
named for her family after it had been donated to the city of Juan les
Pins which is near Cannes. About sixty people attended the formal
dinner which was a glittering success. Seated at a table very near mine
was exiled King Farouk of Egypt and a comely French actress in her
twenties. She was tall and lithesome. Farouk was as fat as a pig.
estimated that he weighed about three hundred pounds. His mistress
looked anything but happy and there was very little conversation between
them during dinner. Afterwards, Mrs. Gould's guests went below to the
cabaret to watch the belly dancers perform. Later many wandered off to
try their luck at the gaming tables nearby. The casino overlooked
Cannes harbor in a beautiful setting. The MIDWAY returned again to
Cannes for several days before being relieved.
On one occasion I invited some of the ship's officers to drive
with me to Monaco along the upper Corniche and return along the lower
Corniche. In Monaco we stopped off to have a look at the world famous
casino which provides the funds that support a country of eight square
-255
miles where the natives pay no taxes. We were traveling in my official
car. We arrived at the casino just before noon. All of us were in
uniform and as we walked into the lobby we were immediately greeted by
one of the casino officials who asked us not to go into the gambling
rooms as our presence in uniform might have a tendency to make their
guests nervous. After that remark, we turned on our heels and walked
out. We then headed for Prince Ranier's palace. On the drive up the
winding road to the top of the promontory overlooking Monaco's harbor
where the palace was located, we met no traffic but we saw a young priest
ahead of us walking down the road. Apparently he had spotted the tag
USS MIDWAY on the front bumper and waved us down when we came near. He
was a young Jesuit priest from Delaware and wanted to talk to Americans.
We chatted for quite a while and learned that he had been assigned by
the Catholic Church as chaplain in residence to Prince Ranier. His
tour was for one year and he seemed to be homesick for Delaware. He
was delighted to have the opportunity to talk about home and said that
if he had known we were coming he would have invited us to lunch at the
palace. The palace itself was guarded by a soldier in a gaudy uniform
pacing the entrance. His sentry box was nearby. The architecture of
the palace appeared to be similar to that of Buckingham Palace.
Back in Cannes there were more cocktail parties to attend. There
was an attractive young French couple named Rainoert who were well
known to the officers of the Sixth Fleet and they generally entertained
the commanding officers of the carriers when they were in port.
Monsieur Rainoert had been a renowned freedom fighter during the
occupation by the Germans. He and his wife gave a cocktail party in my
-256
honor. There were many interesting people present--both French and
Americans. The French included the Marquis de Puyseger and Marquise.
The two young French counts said they would like to come out and see
the ship so I invited them to lunch on a separate occasion. They were
brothers in their early twenties. From my guestbook I have extracted
their names and address. They are Yelles de Mailly-Nesle and Arnoeld
de Mailly-Nesle, Villa des Pins, Rocte de Fiegus, Cannes (AlpesMaritime).
At lunch I mentioned my visit to Monaco and we talked about
Prince Ranier and the principality of Monaco. This is the story they
told me. The treaty with France setting up the principality of Monaco
provides that if the Prince dies and there is no legitimate heir to the
throne, the principality will cease to exist and will become part of
France. Prince Ranier was not married then, but according to the two
young counts, he had a mistress who was a young French actress and she
had borne him two children. They were not eligible to succeed him,
however, and he had never married.
In view of the many foreign dignitaries who visited the MIDWAY
who could not speak English, I looked around for someone who could act
as an interpreter for me. Fortunately there was a young junior-grade
lieutenant in the ship's company named Raymond D'Argenio who was fluent
in French, Spanish, and Italian. For my purposes, he was "just what
the doctor ordered" and was called into service on many occasions. He
had a background in journalism and I made him editor of the MIDWAY
Cruise Book 1954 which covered our tour in the Med. When I was detached,
Lieutenant junior-grade D'Argenio presented me with a huge portfolio
containing a large collection of the best photographs taken of the ship's
-257
operations and shipboard activities throughout the cruise. It is something
I value highly and it is on the table in this room.
Carrier skippers like all naval aviators on active duty are required
to get in a certain amount of flight time or make a certain number of
landings each month in order to maintain their proficiency. When I
commanded the SABLE on Lake Michigan, the ship was operating on the lake
everyday during the year and I had no opportunity to fly from a shore
base. Consequently, I got in my flight time by flying a fighter plane
(Hellcat) from the carrier. On the MIDWAY, there was ample opportunity
to fly when the ship was in port by flying one of the ship's helicopters.
It was a great experience to be able to fly at low altitude along the
beautiful shorelines of the countries around the Med., particularly
along the French and Italian Rivieras and Spanish Costa Brava. The
scenary was magnificent.
The extensive air operations conducted day and night required
that we always keep a sharp eye on the weather. This was especially
true during the winter months when, as a general rule, a front makes
up the vicinity of the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain about
every three or four days and moves rapidly eastward over the Med. The
first fatality we suffered occurred soon after I took command in Algiers.
Nightflying was being conducted. We had approximately eighteen planes
airborne during that operation and when the planes began to be taken
aboard, the sea had become glassy and a light haze had settled over the
water which caused the pilots in the landing circle to have difficulty
in properly estimating their height above the water. Their depth perception
was being impaired and the landing signal officer was having
-258
difficulty in getting timely response to his signals from the pilots in
the groove. Shortly thereafter, a fighter plane piloted by a fine young
officer, Ensign Ashworth, came in low, hit the right side of the ship
at the island and went into the water. Both the plane and the pilot
sank almost immediately. After consultation with the landing signal
officer and the air officer, I made the decision to stop the landings
and send the remaining planes into Bizerte, Tunisia, which was not too
far distant from ??ur operating area. They remained there overnight and
the next morning they were taken aboard. We were fortunate to be
operating in fairly close proximity to the field at Bizerte. That was
the only time during our entire tour that planes were not landing aboard
after launch. There were, however, some anxious minutes when we were
operating one night in the Gulf of Genoa. Two squadrons of planes were
aloft when the wind suddenly began to pick up at a rapid rate. I
recalled the planes from their mission and began taking them aboard.
During the landings, the velocity of the wind increased to fifty knots.
The ship slowed to steerageway and all planes were landed without incident,
but I felt it was a close call as the wind continued to increase
to about sixty knots. Weather in the Med. is very tricky indeed.
On another occasion when we were involved in a NATO exercise called
"Italic Sky One" and had a number of high-ranking NATO officers embarked,
the MIDWAY experienced a most unfortunate accident. It was the type of
landing acci�dent that sometimes happened when pilots are inexperienced.
There is an infallible rule that is always drummed into new pilots by
the landing signal officers. Once the 1
1
cut11 signal has been given by the
landing signal officer, the pilot must never "give her the gun" again
-259
despite the bounce, no matter how high. Instead he should fly his
plane into the barriers ahead. In this case, the cut was given and the
pilot took a high bounce and gave it the gun, thereby lifting it over the
barrier after which it lost flying speed and crashed into the planes
on deck forward of the barrier. Several planes burst into flame and
the firefighters immediately broke out the hoses, climbed up on the
wings of the planes which were filled with gasoline and began fighting
the fires. I changed course in order to have the smoke and flame clear
the side of the vessel and protect the firefighters and permit them to
do their job. Those planes which were near the ship's side and in
flames were pushed overboard. Our other airborne planes landed on the
carrier RANDOLPH which was operating with us. As a result of that
accident, we lost three men, including the pilot who had crashed, and
five planes. The schedule for the exercise called for either a landing
or a launch every thirty minutes. At the end of thirty minutes, our
deck had been cleared and we made our scheduled launch on time.
It was my custom to frequently talk to the crew over the loud
speakers placed throughout the ship, especially when something noteworthy
took place during exercises. That evening upon completion of
the exercise I went 11
On the horn" with my usual opening remark--11
Now
hear this--this is the captain speaking.o11 I described factually the
unfortunate events of the day and ended up by commending the firefighters
who at great risk to their own lives stood on the wings filled
with gasoline next to the blazing planes and fought the fires until
they were extinguished. I ended my remarks by saying, 11
Tonight when
you see one of those brave men, go up to him and pat him on the back
-260
and tell him how much you appreciate what he did for the crew and
ship. 11
This type of accident has plagued carrier aviation since its
inception. Today, most of our carriers have a canted deck on which
planes land. Planes take off and are parked on the fore and aft deck
so no longer do we have that hazard to plague us. We are indebted to
the British for that innovation to carrier aviation.
EAST CAROLINA MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW
FEBRUARY 25, 1981
RADM WILLIAM H. ASHFORD, JR., USN(RET)
RALEIGH, N.C.
INTERVIEW #9
Our next port of call was Marseille with its magnificent harbor
magnetically drawing ships from all parts of the world. It is a vital
enterprise which has vied with Genoa for mastery of the Mediterranean
for more than a thousand years. Marseille's population is as varied
as the ships that come there from all corners of the world. Its night
life is vibrant. While there, a dance was held aboard ship for the
crew. Local entertainers came aboard and our own band, called the
MIDWAY Cats, provided the music. A fancy buffet dinner was served
to all hands and the affair was a tremendous success. The MIDWAY was
to return to Marseille once again before leaving for continental U.S.
and those two visits provided opportunities for many of the crew to
make short visits to Paris. I gave a dinner party for a number of
French dignitaries and the American Consul-General, Mr. C. R. Wharton,
and Mrs. Wharton, and one of the Vice-Consuls and his wife. A few
civilians were present. Before we departed, we embarked three Norwegian
officers from the staff of Commander-in-Chief North--a NATO
command--to witness exercises at sea. When they left they graciously
presented me with a book outlining the scenic beauty of Norway in color.
-262
Barcelona, our next port of call, was a city which all hands
looked forward to visiting. Soon after anchoring, I received a visitor-a
young ensign in the Spanish Navy. He informed me that he had been
assigned to duty as official aide to the commanding officer of the
MIDWAY during our stay in Barcelona. He was the son of Admiral Rafael
de Bobadilla, commandant of the naval district in which Barcelona was
located. That association developed into an unique experience and
several memorable occasions for me. Admiral Bobadilla had been the
Spanish naval attache to London and had married an English woman.
They had several children and I was invited into their home for a
family dinner, something quite unusual, I learned. My aide's
fiancee, an English schoolteacher, was also present at dinner. During
our previous stopover at Gibraltar, I had purchased materials for a
sportcoat of Shetland wool, a white dinnerjacket, and a sharkskin suit.
The Admiral offered to introduce me to his tailor in order to have the
garments made-up. I readily accepted. Later, Mrs. Bobadilla offered
to take me shopping in Barcelona and we spent most of the day making
purchases. I bought excellent quality straw articles for the most
part. We still have them and use them frequently. Admiral Bobodilla's
family had, for generations, owned a winery in Jerez, Spain, which
turned out one of the most popular wines in Spain. The entire family
was charming and I reciprocated their hospitality by giving a dinner
party for them aboard the MIDWAY. The high point of our visit to
Barcelona was a bullfight put on in honor of the visiting U.S. taskforce.
We were guests of the city. Box seats were reserved for my party.
During the day, seven bulls were dispatched. I must add, however, that
-263
I have no particular desire to attend another bullfight. To see the
bulls gore those old horses even though they had pads on was not a
very pleasant sight.
Barcelona was originally scheduled to be our last port of call
before going to Gibraltar to be relieved by the incoming carrier.
However, as I have previously mentioned, the MIDWAY had to stay on for
a second tour due to the catapult explosion on the aircraft carrier
BENNINGTON--our intended relief. After Barcelona, we began another tour
around the Med. which would take us to some new ports of call and some
we had seen before.
From Barcelona we headed for the Gulf of Genoa conducting maneuvers
enroute. During our visit to Genoa, I decided to take the opportunity
to visit Florence and invited my air officer and air group
commander to accompany me in the official car for the trip. We stayed
overnight at a hotel on the plaza and took in all of the sights. It
was the only night I spent away from the ship during our seven months
absence from the states. Genoa is a bustling naval center of Italy
and a refreshing change from the poverty and idleness of Southern Italy.
Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa and his humble birthplace has been
preserved. He is also buried there and the Italians have erected numerous
monuments and statues and designated parks in memory of his exploits.
They will never let you forget that he was a Genoese. Prior to our
departure from Genoa, we embarked several highranking officers from the
Italian and French navies attached to NATO commands for exercises that
became known as Italic Sky One.
-264
Our next port of call was Leghorn, Italy, where our guests debarked.
The Italian Naval Academy and War College are located there.
The commandant of the Naval Academy invited me to come for an inspection
tour and lunch. During that visit, I was presented with a momenta in
the form of a medal impressed with the seal of the Italian Naval Academy.
There were many grim reminders of the war in the devastated areas of
the city which had not been rebuilt like those in Genoa. Our stay at
Leghorn gave us an opportunity to visit Pisa and see the leaning tower.
We learned that construction had been started in 1174 and two hundred
years went by before it was completed. It began to settle before
completion and today leans twelve feet from the verticalo. Engineers
are concerned that they have been unable to arrest the process.
After our next exercise at sea, we put into Gibraltar. At that
time General Franco was engaged in serious discussions with the British
demanding the return of Gibraltar to Spanish controlo. He was threatening
to strike the shipyard in Gibraltar by stopping th.e Spanish workers
from commuting from Spain to their jobs. He also talked of cutting off
the water supply to the Rock. When I was a midshipman in 1924, we made
a midshipman's practice cruise to Europe and Gibraltar was one port of
callo. At that time the British conducted a tour for the midshipmen
inside the Rock. It was an experience that I will never forget. The
huge iron gates that allow a vehicle to enter the Rock and travel up
the winding road to the top were open and we drove around inside as if
we were climbing a circular staircase. There were periodic openings
having heavy concrete mounts and large caliber guns enabling the British
to cover the Strait of Gibraltar. Many storerooms were carved out of
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the interior of the Rock and housing facilities were close by for the
crews which manned the guns. Upon reaching the top, we came to a level
area with more guns extending around the circumference of the circular
area. We were told that within the Rock, the British had stored enough
water and provisions to last the defenders for five years. Gibraltar
is one of the most vital and strategic bits of land in the world. Its
possession enables the British to control all Mediterranean seagoing
traffic to and from the Atlantic. An extensive and elaborate maze of
underground excavations has produced a tunnel-like fortress capable
of surviving a nuclear attack. Our visit followed that of the Queen of
England by only a few days. The Royal Air Force had constructed a
1
1
E-R11
strikingly large on top of the Rock where the Queen and the Duke
of Edinburgh would see it from the Royal Yacht. I'm of course referring
to our visit with the MIDWAY. There were many monkeys living on the
Rock in 1924 and they were still there in 1954. As I recall, they
were of the orangutan family. There is a saying among the inhabitants
of Gibraltar that as long as the monkeys are there the British will be
there too.
During our short stay in Gibraltar, I invited some of my officers
to drive up the coast and have lunch with me in Malaga. We drove up in
my official car which displayed a "U.S.S. MIDWAY11 tag in front. The
road to Malaga was along the coast. We saw some of the most beautiful
beaches I have ever seen. They were deserted. There were no hotels
and very few houses. I remarked to my companions at the time that I
would certainly like to own some of that beach property because after
all you can't stretch the shoreline and the population explosion can
-266
only make the price of beach property go one way--up. Today that
area is known as the Costa del Sol and it is one of the most popular
watering spots in the world. During our drive to Malaga, practically
the only persons encountered were soldiers who would pop up in the
road ahead of us from out of nowhere and wave us down. They were
armed. As soon as they saw the U.S.S. MIDWAY plate in front and U.S.
Navy painted on the side of the car and our uniforms, they would wave
us on. They undoubtedly had been briefed of our arrival in Gibraltar.
As a matter of fact, during that period as a result of the tension about
the return of Gibraltar to Spain, the Spanish government under Franco
had restricted the British from entering Spain from Gibraltar and
soldiers were enforcing the edict.
In Malaga we drove to the top of a mountain where one of the most
famous restaurants in Malaga was located. I don't recall its name
but I understand that it is still there. The view from the hotel is
outstanding. Our lunch consisted of seven courses including wine. The
price per person as I recall was three dollars. There's one thing for
which Franco can be given credit--there was no inflation in Spain
during his regime. In Malaga we visited a rug factory where rugs were
being woven on enlarged hand looms about twenty-five to thirty feet in
length. The workers for the most part were children whose ages seemed
to vary between about ten and fourteen years. Child labor was a common
practice at that time. They worked very long hours in a dimly
lighted area. It made one sad to see it.
Another interesting visit was made to Algeciras, Spain, just a few
miles from Gibraltar. We went there for lunch at a fabulous hotel which
-267
we were told was built by a former king of Spain who used it as his
summer resort. Since being converted to a hotel it has become a favorite
tourist attraction.
In the narrative so far, I have dwelt primarily on a description
of the ports we visited and the activities pursued while at anchor.
Our real work took place at sea. Commander Sixth Fleet Vice Admiral
Thomas Selby Coombs flew his flag on a heavy cruiser usually based at
Villefranche. He was in overall operational command of all U.S. naval
forces in the Sixth Fleet. Most of the combatant ships operated with
the two fast carriers under the tactical command of commander carrier
division four--Rear Admiral Albert K. Morehouse. He had commanded
the U.S.S. MIDWAY just prior to being selected for flag rank. His chief
of staff was Captain Paul P. Blackburn, Jr., later vice admiral in
command of the Third Fleet during the Korean Conflict. The schedule
of operations promulgated for our initial tour of four months in the
Med. was an intensive one. Normally flight operations took place every
day and night during the week while at sea and many weekends were spent
in fueling, replenishing and trying to fit in the individual ship
operations required to be performed by every combatant ship during a
period of twelve months. At no time in my career, even during the first
year of the war when the U.S.S. ENTERPRISE was the only fully operating
carrier in the Pacific, were the pressures more intense. Aboard the
MIDWAY we had three fighter plane squadrons, two of which were relatively
short range. They were interceptor fighters (F9Fs Cougars
built by Grumman)o. It was normal practice to have the fighter planes
back over the ship by the time their fuel supply was reduced to not less
-268
than thirty minutes. This gave us a margin of safety in case of a delay
caused by a crash landing on deck. The two carriers always operated
together. That also provided an extra element of safety.
As the MIDWAY's tour was extended, we felt that operations might
ease up a bit but instead they were increased and furthermore the fuel
safety factor was reduced. In some cases as low as fifteen minutes
of fuel remained by the time the fighter planes were over the ship.
It was a further cause of concern especially when large numbers of
planes were airborne. The U.S.S. RANDOLPH, the other carrier in our
task force, was in the command of a classmate of mine, Captain Robert S.
Quackenbush, later rear admiralo. One day after an extended flight,
two of the RANDOLPH's fighter planes ran out of fuel while circling for
a landing and crashed in the water. As I recall, one pilot was lost.
Sometime thereafter, I received a visit from Vice Admiral Coombs
Commander Sixth Fleet whose flagship was then in company with our task
force. He came to the navigating bridge and said that he would like
to have a talk with me. I invited him to come into my sea cabin adjoining
the bridge where we could talk in private. He told me that he had
received a report concerning the intensity of operations and its effect
on pilots and personnelo. He asked me for my opinion. I answered that in
my judgement the tempo should be slowed and the crews afforded more
periods of relaxation while at sea. I probably also said something
about the effect on morale. As a result of that visit, he issued
orders that hereafter exercises or replenishments and refueling would
no longer be scheduled on Sundays. He directed that swimming call be
made the following Sunday afternoon with the Task Force hove to at
-269
sea. We had never had swimming call before. Our operations then began
to assume a more normal pace.
During 1954 when the MIDWAY was in the Med., there were no Soviet
naval vessels there except three or four submarines which were reported
to be based in Albania. Occasionally we would see a submarine surface
in the vicinity of our task force, but we did not experience any harrassment
as was the case some months later after Soviet naval vessels began
to appear in numbers in the Mediterranean. We had orders to report to
higher authority every sighting of a submarine giving all details
available.
Our next port of call was the picturesquely situated city of
Palermo, the capital of Sicily. It faces the blue Tyrrhenian Sea and
is surrounded by fertile green hills. Natives call the plain on which
it is situated the Conca d' Oro or Golden Shell. The city's history
dates back to the Phoenicians whose ships explored the area thousands
of years before the Roman Empire was founded. Besides the sightseeing
it offered, its beautiful beach at Mondello offered relaxation for
hundreds of sailors who swam, sunned, and enjoyed beer parties there.
It was also known as the Riviera of Sicily.
Upon our arrival in port, I received an invitation to come for
tea at the headquarters of the Sicilian-American Society. The executive
director of that society was the sister of a member of my flight
class at Pensacola where we received our wings in 1930. There is a
picture of that flight class hanging on my wallo. He was Aubrey Wray
Fitch, then a commander and later admiral U.S.N. retired. He had also
commanded the U.S.S. LEXINGTON in 1937 when I was in a divebombing
-270
squadron attached to his ship. When Amelia Earhart was lost on her
flight around the world somewhere near an island fo the South Pacific,
the LEXINGTON spent two weeks in searching for her, The area we covered
was approximately 100,000square miles. Admiral Fitch's sister gave us a
cordial welcome and invited a group of MIDWAY officers to visit the
estate of Italian Prince Neshamio. [The spelling of this name is
questionable.o]
The estate was about twenty miles outside of Palermo, We drove
down a shady lane of trees overhanging the driveway to the mansion
which seemed to be about a mile long. The Prince and his wife lived in
only one wing of the mansion. Another wing was closed but there was a
central section which was a veritable museum that was opened on occasion
for special tourist groups. I was impressed by the art, sculpture,
artifacts and most importantly by the autographed photographs of
virtually all royalty who had been heads of state. There were several
photographs of Kaiser Wilhelm and his family, English and Italian
royalty and many other mementoes of royal families of Europe. I was
told that once each year the Rrince gave a gala ball in the huge ballroom
for his friends. The natives living close by were also invited
to join in the festivities. I asked how a deposed member of the royal
family was able to afford such opulence. The reply--he is married to
a Strawbridge from Philadelphia. A few days later I was invited to a
cocktail party in the city given by a relative of the Prince where I
met many Sicilians and a few Americans. I had been advised that in
Italy it was customary to shake hands with everyone you met both going
and coming. It seems that the Italians spent much of their time shaking
hands. They are very friendly people.
-271
During our exercises after leaving Palermo, the task force was to
pass through the Strait of Messina which separates the toe of Italy
from Sicily. The Strait is narrow and treacherous and the tides are
strong. In making the passage all ships of the task force were in
columns with the MIDWAY in the van followed by the RANDOLPH, the
division of cruisers, and the squadron of destroyers--some thirteen
ships in all. Passage was from east to west which required the leading
vessel to stand down close to a lighthouse on the Italian side, make
a sharp right-hand turn to get through the narrows, followed by a sharp
left turn after clearing them. It was a rather tricky maneuver even in
good weather and in daylight. As the MIDWAY closed the lighthouse we
were taking bearings on the flashing light as it was almost dusk. A
haze was developing and the lighthouse beacon was beginning to become
fuzzy. Shortly before we were to make our sharp turn to the right, a
call came up from Admiral Morehouse on the flag bridge to me. He
asked how I felt about making the passage under the prevailing conditions.
My reply was, 11
If that light on which we are now taking
bearings becomes obscured we may be in for big trouble.o11 He immediately
signaled to all ships 1
Turn 1811 which meant that each ship in
1
column would turn on its heel and reverse course simultaneously upon
execution. After the course reversal, we steamed in column during the
night and in the morning made the passage in good weather without
incident.
After those exercises, we put into Naples for the first time. Our
visit was short but I did get an opportunity to visit with some of my
friends on CINCSOUTHo1
s staff and on a Sunday invited several of my
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squadron commanders to go with me to Capri
, some thirty miles distance
from our anchorage and have lunch at Gracie Fieldso' restaurant. It was
quite a showplace and the island's beauty is breathtaking. On the
highest peak on the island stand the ruins of the castle built by
Barbarosa (11
Redbeard11
).
A couple of weeks before we arrived in Naples, I had received a
note saying that a guest of the Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Tom Meloy,
would soon be coming aboard the MIDWAY for a visit and would spend
several days with us observing exercises. He reported aboard when we
reached Naples. He was founder and president of MELPAR, an electronics
firm based in Fairfax, Va. He stayed with us until after our next
port of call which was Tangier. We became good friends and went ashore
together. We took in the night life of Tangier and one day we took a
drive in my official car well into Spanish Morocco, a somewhat barren
country. Of particular note at that time were the many sentry boxes
along the roadside in which stood a stationary sentry who was as
immobile as a statue at least as long as one could observe him. It
left one with the feeling that General Franco was very much in charge.
I've never seen sentries stand like statues that way before.
[They were just observing the traffic?]
Their immobility impressed you. Of course their eyes were directly
ahead on the road. Of course they observe, but that is the way he had
them stand--inside the sentry box like a madonna standing there.
[I wonder if at any time .they did stop traffic or checked credentials
or other things of that nature?]
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I think it was more of a gesture than anytbing else: They made no
attempt to come out. In fact there was practically no traffic. The
sentry boxes were very near the road and quite numerous.
Tangier is a fascinating place. Its population is a mixture of just
about every culture that one can imagine. It is one of the major international
banking centers of the world and its people are probably the
most blase and sophisticated in the world. Smuggling has flourished
there for years and it is a respected profession. Barbara Hutton and
other world travelers maintain houses in the casbah. Skyscrapers overlook
the Moorish settlement and the city's blend of east and west has
created a fascinating community.
During my next tour of duty in Washington, Tom Meloy invited my
friend Rear Admiral Henry Crommelin and me to be his guests at his farm
in Fairfax County and hunt quail. We took advantage of his hospitality.
He also invited me for lunch at times at the Metropolitan Club in
Washington.
After two weeks of exercises at sea, the MIDWAY put into Cannes for
several days. One purpose of this second visit was to be present at the
change of command ceremony of the Sixth Fleet commander. The ceremony
was to take place on the flagship of commander Sixth Fleet, a cruiser
anchored at Villefranche near Cannes. Vice Admiral Coombs was to be
relieved by Vice Admiral John Cassidy who had been my boss as DCNO(AIR)
when I was on duty in the Pentagon. I attended the ceremony along with
other commanding officers. The occasion was social as well as military.
Many French and other foreign military officers were present as well as
a large number of civilians. The civilians seemed to be in the majority.
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Bountiful refreshments were served and the ceremony proved to be a gala
affair. One of the civilians I met there was Ali Khan, the oldest son of
the Aga Khan who was the leader of the Moslem world. Ali was a graduate
of Harvard University and had been married to Rita Hayworth. I had a
chat with him. He spoke perfect English without an accent and was a
most charming conversationalist. The Aga then lived in Paris. He died
a few years later and Ali Khan became the Aga Khan. It is a Moslem custom
to present its religious leader, the Aga, at each birthday with his
weight in platinum. Since the Aga weighed something over 300 pounds and
Ali appeared to weigh about 150, I imagine the coffers of the Moslem
treasury must have received quite a boost when Ali took over from his
father.
Villefranche is one of the most picturesque spots on the French
Riviera. The harbor is small and surrounded by steeply sloping hills
rising from the sea. It lies between the Upper and Lower Corniche and
the houses appear to be almost on top of each other and each house has an
unobstructed view of the harbor and the blue Mediterranean beyond.
For many weeks, our task force had been engaged in intensive
operations pointing to a momentous day for the MIDWAY when about fifty
of the top-ranking officers of NATO would be our guests for a one-day
cruise out of Naples to observe a demonstration of a fast carrier task
force in action. The group would be headed by General A. M. Gruenther,
the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (SACEUR). General Gruenther had
relieved General Eisenhower of that command. Among the other highranking
U.S. officers were Admiral W. M. Fechteler (CINCSOUTH) and
recently the Chief of Naval Operations and generals, Norstad and LeMay,
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both of whom had been chiefs of the U.S. Air Force. My guestbook lists
all of those officers who were aboard on 20 June, the day of the demonstration.
The operations conducted consisted of submarine tactics,
anti-submarine warfare, sleeve-firing, drone-firing, high-speed divebombing
runs on a sled towed astern of the MIDWAY, and intricate fleet
maneuvers.
On the day before the demonstration, a full-scale rehearsal was
held during which there were many snafus which left us with a feeling of
frustration. On the morning of 20 June, our guests were picked up on
the dock at Naples and transferred to the MIDWAY anchored in the outer
harbor. Within thirty minutes the scheduled operations were underway
and continued throughout the day. The only interruption was during the
lunch held in the ward room for our guests. In show business there is
an old saying that a poor dress rehearsal makes for a good opening.
This proved to be very much the case for our task force on D-Day.
Everything planned went off on the minute as scheduled and our day was
perfect in everyway. It exceeded our fondest expectations. The weeks of
hard work had payed off in the skill and efficiency displayed by the
MIDWAY and other ships on D-Day. At the conclusion, General Gruenther
asked to address the officers and men of the MIDWAY and complimented
them on the outstanding manner in which they had performed. That night
a=s the-g~enera-1 and his party were returning to-P.-a-ri??,, tte wrote a 1 etter
to commander of the Sixth Fleet with a copy to the commanding officer
of the MIDWAY. In that letter, which is in the Manuscript Collection at
E.C.U.o, he stated that in his forty years of viewing demonstrations he
had never witnessed one as perfect as the one put on that day.
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That D-Day of 20 June had been graduation day for the MIDWAY and
our thoughts then became focused on getting back to the continental
U.S. After another stop at Marseille, we went on to Gibraltar. To see
our relief, the CORAL SEA, anchored in the harbor was a most welcome
sight.
Prior to our arrival at Gibraltar, orders had been received
detaching Rear Admiral Albert K. Morehouse as commander Carrier
Division 4 and his chief of staff Captain Paul B. Blackburn, Jr. Rear
Admiral Delbert S. Cornwell (11
Corny11
) was to become the new commander
Carrier Division 4 and I received orders to become his chief of staff
after being relieved by Captain Reynold Delos Hogle (11
Tobe11
). The
turnover ceremonies were to take place after our arrival in Norfolk. Our
normal tours of duty were nearing an end.
On the morning of 4 August 1954 the good ship MIDWAY docked at the
Norfolk Naval Base. The pier was crowded with relatives, friends, and
band music helped to make for a joyous and lively occasion. After
docking I spotted Bette and my two sons on the dock and sent an officer
down as soon as the gangway was lowered to escort them to my cabin.
The ship's photographer was there to take a picture of the family group.
Bette looked tired and worn. I learned then for the first time of the
seriousness of Pam's illness. She had been hospitalized at the Naval
Medical Center at Bethesda under Doctor Cone's care almost continuously
for the past four months. Captain Tobe Hogle was not scheduled to relieve
me until 1 October, so Bette had rented an apartment at Virginia Beach
for the month of August in order that our family could be together.
Doctor Cone felt that Pam could be released from the hospital for a
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short period of time, so Bette brought her down with the boys and our
maid on the nightboat from Washington to Norfolk. We had only been
in the apartment, which was in the same cottage owned by our good
friends, the Herbert Lees, a couple of days when Pam came down with a
rash over her entire body. She was taken to a doctor in Virginia Beach
who put her on sulfa drugs. Apparently she had picked up the rash on
the nightboat enroute to Norfolk. She became more fretful and bruises
began to appear on her body. We called Doctor Cone and he advised us
to return her to the hospitalo.
Upon Pam's first admission to the hospital in February, Doctor
Cone, who was head of the pediatrics section, realized that she had a
serious problem of undetermined diagnosis. His first thought was cystic
fibrosis of the liver and so told Bette. Commander Quentin Crommelin
and his wife Priscilla lived in the same block with us in Alexandria and
we were quite close. Bette told Quentin of the doctor's concern.
Quentin was then aide to Vice Admiral James R. Holloway, Jr.o, then
chief of the Bureau of Personnel in the Navy. As I have previously
mentioned, he was my boss on the old USS WEST VIRGINIA when I was an
ensign. A day or two after Pam's admission, she was visited by the
commanding officer of the Naval Medical Center and the Surgeon-General
of the Navy. Numerous tests were made to isolate the cause of her
illness. Even a speciman of fluid in her skull was taken and analyzed.
For the next few months she was in and out of the hospital and it was
not until several months had passed that her illness was definitely
diagnosed as celiac disease. It came about as a result of a test that
had just recently been developed called the 11
sweat test." It was this
test and only this test that gave a positive diagnosis of celiac disease.
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We decided that Bette and Pam would return home and Peter, age 6,
and Bill, age 9, would stay on with the maid in the apartment at Virginia
Beach with me. Bette would be alone in our house in Alexandria. I sent
them to Alexandria by car with a driver. On the following weekend I
flew to Washington to meet Bette and Pam. We went in to see Pam at the
hospital and were shocked to find her in a comatose condition and
getting intravenous feeding. At that point the doctor considered her
condition to be grave. We left the room feeling that we would lose her.
For some time Bette had begun to complain of backache. During
Saturday night of that weekend, she developed severe back pains. On
Sunday morning I put a sleeping bag in the stationwagon for her to lie on
and drove her to the Naval Hospital at Bethesda and admitted her. She
was placed in the orthopedic section and her doctor was a medical captain
who was head of the section. They put her in traction. I returned to
Norfolk on Sunday night and came to Washington to see Pam and Bette on
the next few weekends. Bette lost much weight and the pain was not
relieved. I went to the commanding officer of the hospital and asked
him if he would call in an outside civilian consultant to review the
case. A difference of opinion existed between the orthopedic people and
the neurology section as to what treatment should be given. The neurologists
were in favor of operating and the orthopedic people were in favor
of more traction. The commanding officer readily agreed and called in
a professor of neurology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville
who was considered to be one of the most respected neurologists in the
country. Pam's condition had improved and she had been removed from the
critical list.
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Meanwhi:le I was back on the MIDWAY prepartng to move b.er out tn the
roadstead at Hampton Roads and remove ammunitfon prior to entering the
Navy Yard at Portsmouth, Virginia. I received a call from the hospital
saying that the consultant recommended that back surgery be performed
without delay. Bette's weight was then down to eighty-nine pounds and
pain had increased. Somewhat reluctantly the orthopedic people turned
her over to the neurology section. I was told that surgery had been
scheduled for the next day. After the call came, we moved out in the
roadstead and the ammunition barge came alongside the MIDWAY to offload
ammunition. I went in to see Admiral Morehouse and explained the situation
to him and asked him for emergency leave in order to be present at
the operation the next day. It was a disappointment to me when he said
that he wanted me to be aboard as long as the ammunition was being offloaded.
That evening I called Sallie Crommelin, the wife of Rear
Admiral Henry Crommelin, and asked her to stand in for me at the hospital
during the operation. I was godfather to Sallie's firstborn child. All
during Pam's and Bette's long illness, Sally and Henry Crommelin were
towers of strength. Henry told me later that he talked with Bette about
requesting orders for me to return to Washington while the MIDWAY was in
the Med.o, because of Pam's condition but Bette talked him out of it
saying that everything was being done that could be done and she felt
that being relieved would hurt my career as indeed it might. Henry
was then chief of staff to Admiral Holloway who had fleeted up to
become the Chief of Naval Operations.
Bette's problem had been diagnosed as a ruptured disc. During the
operation they learned that two discs not one were ruptured and while
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she was still under anesthesia they moved her to the x-ray room and
took more x-rays and developed them and returned her to the operating
room. The two discs were repaired and not fused. She was under anesthesia
for a total of eight hours. A few years before, that would not have
been practicalo.
After the MIDWAY had been put in drydock at the Navy Yard, I again
requested emergency leave which was granted. Admiral Morehouse had been
relieved by Admiral Cornwell and Captain Blackburn was to stay on as
his chief of staff until I was relieved by Captain Tobe Hogle which was
scheduled for l October.
I took the boys and our colored maid back to Alexandria and opened
up the house. When I visited Bette, I learned that her left leg was
partially paralyzed as a result of damage to small nerves during the
operation. She could not flex her foot or move her toes. The doctors
felt that the affected nerves would regenerate in time. Thankfully
the central nervous system had not been affected because once that system
is damaged the condition is permanent. Prior to my having to
return to Norfolk, Bette was fitted with a leg brace and a special shoe
to improve her mobility. I brought her home from the hospital and
engaged a practical nurse. The maid took care of the boys. Pam
remained in the hospital for a while longer. That situation coupled
with her rundown condition and the trauma of her operation left her in
a seriously depressed condition. She was so depressed that she did not
want to live and even began to lose interest in her family. On the
night before my return to Norfolk, I came to the conclusion that my
family must now take priority over my naval career and that I would
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either have to get transferred back to Washington or request retirement
from the Navy and seek other employment.
It was on a Sunday night that I returned to Virginia Beach and
went in to talk with our good friends, Herby and Peggy Lee. I told
them that I had decided to go that night and talk with Admiral Cornwell
and tell him that I would not be able to go back to the Mediterranean as
his chief of staff. Herby advised me to consider the matter carefully
as my career was now at stake. I told Herby that I felt that I had
no other choice. So I telephoned Admiral Cornwell and asked him if I
could come to his home and talk to him that night which I did. After
outlining my situation, it was apparent that he was unhappy with the
turn of events. My long experience as flag lieutenant to a carrier
division commander and a carrier task force commander in wartime plus
that of tactical officer of a carrier task force and my experience in
maneuvering large groups of combatant ships had well qualified me for
the job. He very much wanted me to stay as his chief of staff and said
that I should carry out my orders to relieve Captain Blackburn as soon
as I was available. I did not agree to reconsider my d??cision however.
Just prior to my detachment from command of the MIDWAY, the officers
of the ship and air group gave a party for me at the officerso. club and
presented me with a handsome desk set suitably engraved which I value.
It is there on my desk now. Immediately after being relieved of command
of the MIDWAY on the morning of l October, 1954, I took my departure.
The new commanding officer, Tobe Hogle, and all heads of departments
were at the gangway to see me off. Tobe handed me a commission pennant
which he said had been flying from the mast of the MIDWAY when I had
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brought her in for the last time. It is hanging there by my desk now.
The MIDWAY like the ENTERPRISE was a can-do ship. All of her commanding
officers had been selected to flag rank.
Before going into the Navy Yard, the Admiral and staff had moved
off the ship and gone to the Naval Air Station, Oceana, Va., to make
their headquarters and to prepare for their next tour in the Mediterranean.
The air group was also based at the Naval Air Station Oceana which was
near the Naval Air Station at Norfolk. I relieved Captain Paul B.
Blackburn, the chief of staff, and moved into bachelor officerso'
quarters at the Naval Air Station Norfolk, commuting to Oceana everyday.
I told Admiral Cornwell that my request for a transfer to Washington,
D.C., still held and I hoped that he would ask for orders for my relief
as soon as practicable. However, several weeks went by without orders
either for me or for a new chief of staff. I later learned that commander
Second Fleet, who had commanded a cruiser division in our task
force in the Mediterranean when the MIDWAY was there and had now been
promoted to vice admiral stepped in and had arranged to have orders
issued for me to be detached without relief and to report to the Bureau
of Naval Personnel, Washington, D.C., for further assignment. I had
nothing to do with that, however. I had no idea then what my new job
would be. When I reported to BUPERS I was told that my next assignment
would be in Washington but the billet would not be available for a couple
of weeks and that I should go home and wait for a callo.
About two weeks later, I was called and told that I was to relieve
Rear Admiral Robert Goldthwaite ("Bob") as chief of staff to Commander
Joint Task Force 7, who was then Rear Admiral Charles B. Momsen, later
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vice admiralo. He was a popular officer and everyone knew him as "Swede."
He was a long time submarine officer, inventor of the Momsen Lung used
in rescuing personnel from sunken submarines, and lately commanded the
Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet. After taking over as Commander of Joint
Task Force 7, he stayed on at Pearl Harbor living in the quarters assigned
to him when he was Commander, Submarine Force.
Bob Goldthwaite, his chief of staff, had headquarters at Twelfth
Street and Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., and planning personnel
were based at those headquarters. Joint Task Force 7 was a unique
organization. Its purpose was to plan and conduct all atomic and thermonuclear
tests carried out by the United States government. Some tests
took place at Camp Mercury in Nevada, others at Bikini Island in the
Pacific, and one test was to be an underwater test conducted in the South
Pacific. The Commander of Joint Task Force 7 had two bosses. One was
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the other was -the Chairman
of the Atomic Energy Commission. The Joint Task Force Planning Group
headquartered in Washington consisted of personnel of the Army, Navy,
and the Air Force in about equal numbers. The senior officer of each
service held a general's or flag officer's billet. The planning cycle
for the series of tests to be conducted at Bikini was two years and the
three services took turns in heading up the operation, that is, the
commander and the chief of staff were rotated every two years among the
three services. In addition to the headquarters of the Planning Group
of about fifty officers, there was a unit stationed permanently at
Bikini, the Los Alamos Laboratories, the Livermore Laboratories and a
Navy support unit which moved out to Bikini during the testing period
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and provided the manpower required to conduct the tests. The tests at
Camp Mercury were performed more or less on a continuous basis with Los
Alamos personnel with help from Service/Personnel as needed. The head
of the Army group was the chief of staff when the Army was in command
just previous to the Navy taking their turn. He was a major generalo. The
Air Force senior officer was a brigadier generalo. The head of the Navy
support group was Rear Admiral Augustus J. Wellings. When it was the
Army's and Air Force's turns to take command, the support group would be
supplied by those services.
Bob Goldthwaite was three classes ahead of me at the Naval Academy,
a fraternity brother, and an old friend. I will digress for a moment and
tell of an experience concerning him as a midshipman, which may be of
interest. During my two and a half years as a student at the University
of Georgia in Athens, I was interested in fraternity work, having been
chairman of the rush committee of my fraternity, Kappa Alpha, before
leaving to enter the Naval Academy. While a plebe, I learned that there
were five midshipmen there who had been pledged to Kappa Alpha before
becoming midshipmen. Two had been pledged by my own chapter at the
University of Georgia. They were Lucius H. Chappell (my roommate) and
Forrest Close, whose brother had been a classmate of mine and fraternity
brother at the University of Georgia. Others were William Ashford Caldwell,
my cousin pledged by the Oglethorpe University chapter, Clark Thorington,
pledged by the Auburn University chapter, and Robert Goldthwaite,pledged
by the University of Alabama chapter. I began to think about how I might
get them initiated into Kappa Alpha.
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St. John's College, the third oldest college in the U.S.--1696-was
just outside the walls of the Academy grounds and Kappa A 1 pha had a
chapter there. I knew that secret societies were not allowed at the
Academy but I figured that St. John's chapter might become interested
in working out arrangements with the universities that pledged them and
conduct initiations in their behalf. I had never heard of it having
been done before but decided to give it a try. On my Sunday afternoon
off, I used to drop by the KA fraternity house at St. John's and visit
with some of the brothers for a spell. We became good friends and at
the appropriate time I raised the prospect of the initiation I had in
mind. Much to my surprise I got a most receptive response. As a result,
the initiation was arranged, since all the pledges readily agreed, and I
was asked to conduct the initiation. That duty was normally performed
by the number one officer of the chapter involved. Looking back on it,
I have often wondered if the St. John's brothers were not somewhat apprehensive
of a possible censure if the Academy officials learned that they
were initiating midshipmen into a Greek letter fraternity.
[What would have happened if the Academy had found out about it?]
I don't know really. I didn't think about it at the time. It was
several years later before I gave it any particular thought. To make a
long story short, each pledge was duly credited to the University which
had pledged him and no outsider knew of the matter so far as I knew.
Bob Goldthwaite was an intercollegiate boxing champion at the Naval
Academy. He became a naval aviator early in his career and held the Gray
Eagle Trophy and retired as a vice admiralo. Incidentally, the Gray
Eagle Trophy is a beautiful replica of an eagle done in silver which is
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awarded to the naval aviator who has been on active flying duty the
longest. It was donated by the Chance Vought Compc.rny whi_ ch had
made naval aircraft for many years. The trophy has been handed down for
decades to the new recipient in an appropriate ceremony when a change
was in order.
After a couple of days of briefings, I relieved Bob as chief of staff
to Joint Task Force 7. My tour of duty turned out to be a fascinating
experience. All personnel associated with the Task Force had been
carefully selected for their jobs. They were most competent and had
great expertise in their jobs. It was a pleasure to be a part of such
a well-organized and smooth-running organization. In addition to the
military, our organization consisted of some of the world's finest
scientific minds who had played a major part in the development of the
atomic and hydrogen bombs at Los Alamos and Livermore Laboratories.
Soon after relieving Bob, I received a request from my boss, Admiral
Swede Momsen, to come to Pearl for a conference with him. He had been
recently married to a young divorcee of a submarine officer and did not
intend to leave the well-appointed government quarters at Makalapa Hill,
which he had occupied as commander of the Submarine Force Pacific, for
the rat race in Washington, D.C. He and his new bride Anne gave a cocktail
party in my honor. The meetings went well and I left with somewhat
of a blank check to use my best judgement in running the administration
of the Task Force and was told that he did not plan to come to
Washington often nor would he be looking over my shoulder. He would be
making inspection trips to various elements of the command from time to
time and I would join him on those trips. I was to represent him with
the Joint Chiefs of Staff via the chief of naval operations and with the
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chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, then Admiral Elliott Bowman
Strauss, who had officially retired in July of 1953 from the Navy but
was recalled as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. He held that
position until October of 1955. The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Atomic
Energy Commission had joint responsibility for the operation of Joint
Task Force 7.
Our first trip together was a visit to Camp Mercury in Nevada to
observe an atomic explosion on Jackass Flats. In that particular
program various temporary buildings using different types of materials
for construction were placed at varying distances from ground zero to
measure blast and heat effect. Also army troops disposed in trenches
were stationed at various distances from ground zero. The day before
the scheduled blast, a long briefing period was held which Admiral
Momsen and I attended. Camp Mercury personnel and the top scientists from
Los Alamos were present. The big question was weather--what would be the
wind's force and direction? It seems that on a previous shot, shortly
before it was fired, the wind conditions turned out to be something less
than favorable and a large number of sheep were contaminated. I believe
it was in Utah. They had to be destroyed as a result of receiving
excessive fallout. You probably remember reading in the press from time
to time about that. The briefing, giving weather the highest priority,
lasted several hours. Finally the scientist at Camp Mercury in overall
charge and having to make the ultimate decision, gave the go-ahead signal
which was always subject to cancellation if weather conditions changed
materially before the final countdown.
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We stayed at Camp Mercury several days and since we were so near
Las Vegas, Swede thought it would be a good idea if we went to Vegas to
take a blow and try our luck for a day or so. He enjoyed playing blackjack.
Prior to our departure, the head scientist at Los Alamos gave us
a formula for winning at blackjack. It was simply this: if the dealer
shows a card of seven or higher, take nothing that will break your head.
In Vegas we put up at the bachelor officerso' quarters at Nellis Air Force
Base and commuted to the strip. We stayed about two days playing blackjack
day and night, using the formula given us. It worked. In fact it
worked so well that after two or three hours girls with trays of drinks
on the house would be at our elbows.
After that, we proceeded to the Livermore Laboratories at Livermore,
California. Those labs were administered by the University of California
at Berkeley and Dr. Lawrence, who had a major part in the development of
the atomic bomb, was in charge. Those labs did research work for the
Atomic Energy Commission and while they did not come directly under our
cognizance, as did Los Alamos, they served us in an advisory capacity.
Dr. Ernest Orlando Lawrence, the physicist who was in charge of the
laboratory showed us around. He had received a Nobel Peace prize in
physics, had invented the cyclotron used in the liberation of energy of
certain elements comprising the atomic bomb, and later developed the
bevatron and other similar devices. Sometime after our vis it Dr.
Lawrence died of cancer and the University of California changed the name
of the laboratory to the Lawrence Laboratory. After that trip, Admiral
Momsen returned to Pearl and I went back to the mines at Twelfth and
Constitution.
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Personnel whose duties involved sensitive material in the atomic
energy field were given a "Q" clearance. The top secret clearances
given by the military services were not sufficient to gain access to
atomic information. I had been given a top secret clearance after
reporting to the Pentagon but had to be processed again for a 11
Q11
clearance.
I recall attending a meeting in the Pentagon shortly after my
return to Washington which involved Joint Task Force 7. Attending that
meeting were representatives of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Atomic
Energy Commission, and Joint Task Force 7 and some of the top ranking
officers of the military services. Also present was Dr. Robert J.
Oppenheimer, known as the father of the A-bomb. He had resigned as head
of Los Alamos Laboratories two months after the first A-bomb explosion
and had taken a position as head of the Institute of Advance Physics at
Princeton. He continued to be an advisor to the Department of Defense
and to the Atomic Energy Commission until about 1955. At the time of
this particular meeting, Dr. Oppenheimer was being criticized by certain
sources for his discussions with foreign scientists presumably covering
sensitive atomic energy materialo. My seat at the table was
directly across from Dr. Oppenheimer and I watched him closely all
during the meeting. Controversial issues were at stake and opinions
were divided. I noted when pro and con views were expressed, Dr.
Oppenheimer would indicate by some slight gesture either his approval
or diapproval of a particular question. It seemed to me that most
everyone was waiting for his opinion and they generally got it in some
manner. He dominated the meeting. It was shortly after that meeting
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that the criticism voiced against Dr. Oppenheimer resulted in an investigation,
the outcome of which was a revocation of his 11
Q11 clearance and
his removal as advisor to the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department
of Defense.
[Do you think that was justified?]
Well, there was a high level, impartial investigation which could
have only been ordered by the President. Since I have no knowledge of
its contents, I would not be qualified to answer such a question. I
could add, however, that soon after the first atomic bomb was exploded
he disassociated himself from the movement. He realized what had been
created and I believe he had misgivings over the part he had played in
this development and he wanted to remove himself from it. It was well
known in the scientific world that he talked freely with other
scientists on matters which people like Dr. Teller would have been
very much opposed to, as well as other scientists. There were other
scientists who shared similar views with Dr. Oppenheimer. I could name
a few but I don't have enough facts to do so. I'm merely trying to give
you a few facts without voicing my opinion. I have an opinion, but
it's personalo. We know what has happened to our secrets and where we
stand today vis-a-vis the Soviet Union as a result of the leaking of
those secrets.
The schedule of atomic and thermonuclear explosions, which we were
preparing for, called for an underwater explosion in the South Pacific
in the spring of 1955 and explosions at Bikini beginning in late summer
or early fall in 1955. The number and types of explosions to be made
were under constant review and change. As I recall, it started out to
be about ten or twelve at Bikini and finally ended up at about seventeen.
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It was about 0600 on a morning in February with a temperature of
twenty degrees when I was awakened by a fire truck directly in front of
my house at 211 Wilkes Street, Alexandria, Virginia. We lived in the
old port section and our house was one of a block of five row houses.
It had four levels and a walled courtyard. It had been restored from
the original which was built about 1840. When I looked out of the
window, I saw firemen going into the row house next to mine. The
occupants had smelled smoke and called the fire department. I phoned
them to find out the trouble and was told that while there was the
sme 11 of smoke, the firemen found no fire and were leaving. When I
returned to my bedroom from having phoned from downstairs, I noticed
smoke coming up through the floorboards in my bedroom. I ran to the
window and opened it just as the fire truck was leaving and yelled at
the firemen to come back. By the time that they got to my bedroom,
the smoke had increased so much that Bette had left the room and I
roused the boys and told them to go downstairs with Bette. They were
in another room upstairs and Pam was in a bedroom on the same floor
that we were on. Pam had recently returned home from the hospitalo.
went in her room and picked her up from the crib and carried her out.
We met our neighbor across the street who had observed smoke coming
from the rooftops and had come to our house to see that we got out.
He escorted us into his home. He was Rear Admiral Henry Chesley Danielo.
Bette and the children were in their nightclothes but I had put on a
heavy overcoat and rubber boots over my pajamas. As soon as they were
in the Daniel 's house, I went back in and put a 11 the baby clothes and
bedding in sight in a sheet, slung it over my shoulder, and departed.
-292
By that time my bedroom was completely obscured with smoke. It was
so cold that the water in the fireplug had frozen and the firemen
could only use chemicals. For a long time they had difficulty in
locating the source of the fire. Smoke was coming from the eaves of
the roof and was sweeping through the rowhouses, but they could see no
fire. Finally they chopped an opening in the tin roof and located the
source of the smoke. A brick from the chimney in the house next to
mine had disintegrated and the fire from the fireplace had ignited the
rafters under the roof and above the ceiling during the night. There
were no fire stops between the rows of five houses, so the smoke from
the smouldering timbers permeated all five of the buildings. The
smouldering had probably been going on all night. It was a close call
for all of us. If the fire truck had not wakened us when it arrived,
we would.:a�ll have been asphyxiated in a few minutes. The smoke and
fire spread fast once the windows and doors were opened. The lower
floors were still fairly free of smoke and a fireman came to me and
said that they would not be able to control the fire and I should get
as much of my belongings �out as I could. With his help and that of
Commander Quentin Crommelin and others, we began to take Bette's
paintings into the courtyard and pass them over the wall to the
neighbor's yard. We got most of them out plus a small metal cabinet
containing my personal records before we had to evacuate.
The firemen were several hours in putting the fire out. Meanwhile,
I used the time making phone calls in Ches Danielo's house trying to
locate a furnished apartment, but had no success. Later in the
morning, my next-door neighbor, Rear Admiral Charles R. Brown, later
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Admiral, came over and said that he had prepared the third-story
apartment in his house for our use and asked me to come look at it.
During the morning, he had called in his maid and had it prepared for
our occupancy. It was a generous offer which we were only too glad to
accept. We stayed with the Browns for two weeks and I'll always be
grateful for their generous hospitality. Our house had been gutted
but_ fortunately much of our clothing in the closets was undamaged. I
requested two weeks leave in order to try and find an apartment and to
bring some order out of chaos. The Brown house was only separated by
six feet from ours but it was a separate structure of three-story brick
and it was undamaged. Living next door for two weeks helped me greatly
in looking after the problems that began to arise with the insurance
people and preparing for the restoration of our home. We had an offer
to sell-out on the day of the fire, but we decided to restore the
house. We loved the place and it had been on the Alexandria Old
Homes Tour only a few months before the fire.
Our search for a furnished apartment was given the highest
priority. A large modern complex of some ten stories called Hunting
Towers had recently been completed in Alexandria. It overlooked the
Potomac River and was furnished and rented by the month. Bette located
a two-room apartment with large living room and kitchen which was
available and the manager said that we could have it. The next day he
called and said that he was sorry but since we had three children it was
not their policy to rent the apartment to a couple with more than two.
With that Bette blew up and let him have it. Never underestimate the
power of a woman when she's aroused. She immediately resorted to a form
of blackmailo.
-294
She said, "How would you feel if it was publicized to the public
media, the papers, and the radio news that this family who had been
burned out in the worst fire that Alexandria's had in many years, had
been evacuated in their nightclothes with a very ill baby with no
place to go, and you turned them away because they had one child too
many?"
He said, "Oh, you wouldn't do that."
She said, "You just think I wouldn't do that. I have a friend who
lives across the street from me. His name is Mr. Henry Mustin. He has
a nightly news broadcast and is ready to go to bat for us. He's of a
Navy family. His father was one of the Navy's first aviators who has
a dormitory and a field at the Naval Air Station Pensacola named for him.
He has a brother who's a rear admiral ....11 The manager had no stomach
for that kind of publicity. Need I add that we got the apartment
and we stayed there more than six months. It had a beautiful swimming
pool, large grounds, and well suited to our needs.
Furthermore, the fire had received much publicity and when I was
crossing the street with the bed clothes over my shoulder, one of the
newspaper photographers was there to take my picture and it had been
published in the Washington paper. I forget whether it was on the front
page or not.
All five houses had been damaged. Mine had been gutted--all the
plaster from all the walls was gone and some of the floors had been
burned through. But only two of the houses, mine and the one where the
fire started, were really severely damaged. The others received minor
damage. But all of them had to be repaired.
EAST CAROLINA MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW
RADM WILLIAM H. ASHFORDa, JRa.
MAY 25a, 1983
INTERVIEW #10
The six months required to restore our house were busy ones and
they were coupled with my new job as chief of staff to Commander Joint
Task Force Sevena. After finally finding an apartment that would
adequately take care of my family, the first order of business was the
preparation of insurance claims on the house and our belongings. Unless
one has actually been through that experience it's difficult to explain
the many intricacies and frustrations to be encountereda. I finally sought
professional help to assist me in getting the settlement. You could be
asked to list every item in your house which had been damaged, including
clothing, and tell when you had bought it and the price you paid
for it! Fortunately this was not done in my case, but a satisfactory
settlement was madea.
After the preparation of the insurance claims, the restoration plans
and specifications for them had to be determined. Since certain
structural changes were involveda, the specs had to be developed in detail
and then presented to the city authority of Alexandria for approval before
we could proceed. It so happened that the plans I presented were turned
down. They required the use of more steel. I had to start all over,
change the specs, and send them in again. They were finally approved.
Meanwhile, Operation Wigwam's target date was approaching and our
planning was stepped upa. Wigwam was to be an atomic explosion in the
296
southern Pacific Ocean area at a great depth. No such explosion had ever
beeh undertaken before by any nation, or since, as far as my knowledge
goesa. All the calculations conducted at Los Alamos were purely
theoreticala. In order to reduce the harm to marine lifea, extensive
research was conducted in the ocean areas by the Department of
Oceanography to determine what area of the Pacific contained the least
amount of ma.rine life that could be affected. Until that survey was
completed, detailed planning could not proceed. Finally, we were advised
of the area in the south central Pacific and the details began to fall in
placea.
Rear Admiral John Alexander had recently relieved Rear Admiral Gus
Wellings as head of the Navy support group. He was to be in charge of the
target array and supporting vessels. Most of the scientists were to be
quartered on a Navy tender with that group.
Admiral Momsen and I were to be embarked on an ESSEX-class carrier
and were scheduled to arrive at the scene a few days before the explosion.
Sometime beforea, I went to Pearl Harbor with a few members of the staff
and met Admiral Momsen. We flew to Bikini Island to make an inspection
because Bikini would be the location of all the atomic and thermonuclear
explosions soon to follow. This was our first trip, there, although we
had been planning it for some time. A small caretaker group, which was
part of Joint Task Force Seven, was permanently stationed there.
Prior to the first atomic explosiona, which had been made by the
United States on Bikini, all the natives had been removed to another atoll
in the Marshall Islands. We all wore badges which would indicate the
amount of radiation we would pick up while therea. We were advised to stay
on the paved roads and not to walk in the coral sandsa.
297
After our inspection we embarked on the carrier and proceeded to the
blast sight for Wigwam. The support group for the Los Alamos scientists
had been there for some days and by the time we arrived the target array
was in place, being towed by tug under remote control. The towing array
was a long one with intermediate semi-barges supporting the heavy
chaina. When we arrived the wind had picked up and the seas were moderatea.
Some damage was being done to the array despite the heavy chains being
used. The admiral and I accompanied Rear Admiral John Sylvester to make
an inspection of-the array after he had informed us of the difficulty.
The prospect from the weatherman was that the seas would get rougher
rather than quiet down for some days to comea. After that inspectiona,
Admiral Momsen called a conference of the key people concerned, aboard the
carriera. During the conferencea, Admiral Momsen decided that the only
sensible thing to do was to go ahead while the array was still in one
piece; so he called for the tests to be conducted without delay. When the
meeting broke up Admiral Momsen turned to me and said, "They
underestimated the power of the sea." A few hours before blast-off, a
final trip was made to inspecta, not only the array, but the barge with the
suspended bomba. I went along on that tripa, and we all made sure no
personnel had been left aboard, because they planned to go ahead with it
very soon.
Our carrier was several miles from the barge carrying the bomb. The
bomb was suspended in a well amidships by a cable of great length. When I
got back aboard the carriera, I went to the flag bridge and took my station
next to a gyro compass repeater which had a telescopic sight on it, giving
me better vision of the explosion when it took place. The gyro repeater
was mounted on a metal base bolted to the deck of the ship. When the bomb
298
went off, the bolts holding down the gyro repeater that I was looking
through were sheared by the shock of the bomb explosion.
[At what distance were you from the bomb?]
I had rather not answer that question. I feel that it might still be
restricted data becausea, from what I knowa, there has never been another
explosion conducted under watera. All I could see from the explosion was a
tremendous amount of -water and spray going up over a large area. I saw no
hardware, only water and spray. There was, however, as we determined
later, a large bubble beneath the surface. It was monitored as it
proceeded westward toward the Asian continent. That news was carried in
the papers. It was tracked for some days; the final outcome, I never
hearda.
[By a bubblea, you mean a tidal-wave type?]
No, a bubble under the surface. Deep under the surface of the sea
there was a bubble and it was proceeding under watera. It expanded and
covered a wide area until, I suppose, it gradually came to the surface and
dissipated before it reached the Asian continent.
[Well, what about tidal-wave effect?]
Noa, I never heard any comments or any reports about any area being
affected by a tidal wavea??
[I mean your ship, where you were, was the water very rough?]
No, not particularly; everything was straight up.
[What depth was it detonated at?]
Well, I'm sorry, but this is something else that I don't think
should comment ona. This is probably more information than has ever been
put out on it.
Numerous pictures had been taken of the developments leading up to
299
the explosion, as well as the explosion itself. As soon as they had been
developed and collected on the carrier, they were turned over to me--after
having been reviewed, of course. It had been arranged that I would
deliver them into the hands of the Chief of Naval Operations in
Washingtona. I was flown off the carrier and landed at Palmyra Islanda,
which was both a seaplane base and a landing fielda. It was the nearest
landing field to the area we were in. At Palmyra a twin-engine
Martin/M3.riner seaplane with crew was awaiting my arrival and we took off
for Pearl Harbora. When I arrived at the Navy Departmenta, after having
flown commercially from Pearl Harbor, I was escorted into the office of
Admiral Mick Carney, then Chief of Naval Operations. As I had mentioned
before, he was Admiral Halsey's chief of staff in the South Pacific before
I left that staff. After a somewhat lengthy visit, filling him in with
all the detailsa, I returned to Joint Task Force 7 headquarters at Twelfth
and Constitution Avenue.
After the successful conclusion of Operation Wigwam, the tempo of
work picked up with a view toward concluding our planning of the
forthcoming explosions of the atomic and hydrogen bombs at Bikinia. As I
recall, there were fourteen explosions originally set up to accomplish
certain purposes, but during the planning stage, I believe, they were
increased to a total of seventeen.
Before leaving Admiral r-bmsen on the carrier at the explosion sight,
he told me that he planned to come to Washington soon and visit me at our
headquarters. He was approaching retirement age and I knew he would be
relieved in a few months. We spent some time together in Washington, and
learned that he was then talking to several industrial concerns about
employment. That was the only visit he made to our headquarters while he
30
0
was commander of Joint Task Force Seven. He was also working on an idea
of developing a method of towing fuel oil in large submerged rubber
bladders
, by subma.rines
, in order to reduce the severe losses that we
suffered from the sinking of tankers during World War II. One company he
was interested in was U.S. Rubber, Inc. Admiral Momsen was an inventor.
He had invented the "Momsen Lung" used by submarine crews in extracting
themselves from stricken submarines on the bottom.
Soon after that visit
, orders were received for Rear Admiral Byron
Hall Hanlon to relieve Admiral M:>msen, who retired on 1 September 1955,
and was promoted to the rank of vice admiral on the retired list. Soon
after relieving Admiral M:>msen, Admiral Hanlon was promoted to vice
admiral. When he retired in 1958, he was given the rank of full admiral
with four stars on the retired list as the result of a combat decoration.
Meanwhile
, the time I had to spend on the extensive rebuilding of my
gutted home left me pushing hard to get our planning for Bikini
completed
. Bette's leg was still in a brace and Pam was seeing Doctor
Cone at Bethesda about every two weeks. He would measure parts of her
body to determine if her illness was causing any malformations.
Although Admiral Hanlon was living in New York, he maintained an
office at our headquarters on Constitution Avenue in Washington and
commuted frequently.
In June 1955, our planning was virtually completed for the seventeen
explosions to be conducted at Bikini. I suggested to Admiral Hanlon that
we prepare a presentation for the scientists at Los Alamos who would be
responsible for carrying out those tests. Admiral Hanlon concurred,
so we worked up a presentation covering the various aspects of the
operation and arranged to meet with the Los Alamos scientists at Kirkland
30
1
Air Force Base near Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Admiral Hanlon and I, accompanied by several key staff membersa, flew
to Albuquerquea. The presentation was held in the movie theater at
Kirkland Air Force Base and it lasted most of the day. I had allocated to
various staff members and some of the Los Alamos scientists certain
portions of the plan to be presented to all presenta. I conducted the
seminar and introduced each speakera, outlining the subject matter to be
covereda.
During the day I suggested to Admiral Hanlon that he might like to
give a large dinner party that night at our hotel in Albuquerque for the
members of his command--some thirty people--who were attending the
presentation. 1'13.ny of the Los Alamos scientists were there. The dinner
would give everyone the opportunity to know the people they would be
living and working with during the forthcoming months at Bikinia. The
party was quite successful.
On our return flight to Washington I sat next to Admiral Hanlon and
we had a long talka. I did most of the talking, howevera, because it was
the first opportunity I had had to brief him on my personal problems and
to inform him exactly how I happened to end up in the job as his chief of
staff. I told him that when I had been ordered back to the Mediterranean
for a third tour, I had had to tell my boss, Rear Admiral "Corny"
Cornwell, that I could not go as his chief of staff, and that I would
either have to be ordered back to Washington where I could take care of my
family or I would have to request early retirement from the Navy. The
delay on the restoration of my house, initially caused by the rejection of
the original plans by the city of Alexandriaa, had delayed the Bikini
planning process all along the line. The seminar brought home to me the
302
need to make an early decision on whether or not I could afford to go to
Bikini for the weeks or months the tests would take and be far removed
from my familya. I felt another crisis was close at handa. I also told him
that I was considering requesting early retirement because of the
continued serious illnesses of my wife and daughter. He was most
sympathetic with my situation. After twenty-eight years of commissioned
service, I realized that starting a new career in civilian life would be a
difficult task and that I would need considerable time and help in
preparing myself if a successful transition were to be made to industry.
To buy that time and refinish my home I would have to remaina� in
Washington for some months longer. Soon thereafter, I called my life-long
friend, Rear Admiral James Sargent Russell, who was then Chief of the
Bureau of Aeronauticsa. Jim and I had been shipmates on the battleship
WEST VIRGINIA in 1927-1928, and I had visited his home many times when the
ship was in Bremerton Navy Yard. Jim's family had a cottage on American
Lake near Tacoma. One day when the ship was in Bremerton, we got the idea
of hiking over the back side of Mount Ranier. There were three of us
involved in this venture. One was a civilian friend of Jim's who lived in
Tacoma and knew Mount Ranier front and back like few people did. We spent
four days hiking over mountains and glaciers--some at angles of 70
degrees--and we saw no one during that time. During that hike, I
suffered a knee injury of dislocated cartilage which had occurred
originally when I was on the Naval Academy wrestling team. I was unable
to continue the hikea, so Jim went down to the nearest village and got a
horse and I rode out on ita.
When I called Jim, I told him that I needed a job that would keep me
in Washington for several monthsa. Without hesitation he said he had just
30
3
the job for me. It was executive director of the Logistics Department,
having the main responsibility for the supply of all naval air facilities
around the world and helping to prepare the Bureau's budget for
presentation to Congressa. There were hundreds of such facilitiesa. I took
the job gladly and began preparing for a second career. I had been
relieved by Rear Admiral W.A. Sutherland, Jr.a, who had participated in
previous explosions at Bikini. I had definitely decided to request early
voluntary retirement as captain.
I read volumes on resumes and wrote several. Finally, I sought
professional help. The firm of Bernard Haldane Associates was one of the
most prestigious advisory services, with offices in New York City and
Boston. At that time, Bernard Haldane himself was setting up a third
office in Washington, D.C. He personnally took me on as a client. Today
Bernard Haldane Associates has numerous offices in the United States and
many world widea. It still is prestigious and they advertise daily in the
Wall Street Journala. Haldanea's first advice to me was to contact my
friends who had successfully made the transition from a naval career to
industrya, and seek advicea.
Acting on that and the advice of others, I wrote a several letters.
One was to Vice Admiral Charlie Foxa, who at one time had been supply
officer on Admiral Halsey's staff. Admiral Fox was then a vice admiral,
and as far as I know, the first one ever to make vice admiral who started
as an enlisted man in the service. He had recently retired as Chief of
the Bureau of Material. One thing I remember in particular was his
advice: "Bill, there's nothing under God's green earth that tarnishes
more quickly than Navy brass when one tries to make the transition to
industry.n I never forgot that advice.
304
I also wrote a letter to Admiral Halsey telling him that I was
requesting retirement and was in the job market. He invited me to come to
New York and have lunch with him. He then had a job as president of a
subsidiary company of International Telephone and Telegraph Corp.
I.T. & T. had been founded by Sosthenes Behn and his brothera, the late
Hernand Behn. Sosthenes was, at this time, chairman of I.T. & T. He had
great admiration for Admiral Halsey, who had an office in the I.T. & T.
Building on Wall Street. Behn would send a car for Halsey about ten
o'clock each morning, and Halsey would generally stay on for lunch with
Behn and his associates and then go back to his apartmenta. It was more or
less an honorary job that he had, or so it seemed to me. When I got there
shortly before lunch time, he said, "Let's go to lunch." We went up on
the 22nd floor of the I. T. & T. Building. Sosthenes Behn was there with
about fifteen or twenty associatesa. It was a two-or three-martini lunch.
The thing that impressed me most was the devotion and the consideration
given to Admiral Halsey. They never made a move to or from the table
without asking him if it would be to his pleasure to do soa. That
impressed me greatly.
Admiral Halsey was in a good mood and before the luncheon was over he
turned to me and said, "Bill, I want you to tell them�that story about the
adulteration of Old King David." Well, the story that he enjoyed so much
was a story I had memorized from a book which was entitled 01a' Man Adam
an' His Chillun. It was written by Roark Bradford (copyright 1928), and
from it the Broadway hit Green Pasturesa, directed by John Goldena, was
createda. The book told about thirty stories from the Bible and it was
written in the old southern negro dialecta. I saw it on Broadway and some
of the lines were lifted verbatim from that book. In the story I told, if
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5
you remember your Biblea, King David took a shine to Mrsa. Uriah and sent
her husband off to fight the Philistinesa. They gave me a big hand. I
still have that book and enjoy telling that story. Well, I was a little
embarrassed at first, but it added a festive note to the occasion.
After lunch Admiral Halsey told me he wanted me to go see a very
close friend of his who was a big businessman close by the office. He was
Rear Admiral John Fisher, U.S. Naval Reserve, (Ret.). Admiral Halsey
called then and made an appointment for me to see him about a prospective
job opportunity. So I went in and saw Admiral Fisher and outlined to him
my general qualifications and so forth. At the end of the interview, he
picked up the telephone and made an appointment for me to go to see
someone in the offices of Booz, Allen, & Hamilton, Inc. They were then,
and still are, one of the most prestigious advisory concerns in New York.
I made the call and they asked me questionsa. They asked me if I was
acquainted with any important politiciansa. I saida, "Yesa." The Russell
family had been close to the Ashford family in Oconee County, Georgia, for
two generationsa. Also, Senator Dick Russell, who later ran for president,
had visited my home and had called on my sister. Also my father was a
close friend of Congressman Paul Brown, who then represented his district
in Congress.
When I called on Congressman Brown, I told him I'd like to get back
to Georgia when I retired. He said to come with him, and he took me over
to see the congressma.n of the district which Lockheed Aircraft is in, in
Marietta, Georgia. We had a nice visit, and the congressman, whose name I
regretfully forget at this pointa, wrote a letter to the president of
Lockheed Aircraft Company. Based on that letter I felt that they had to
give me a job! Senator Russell wrote a similar letter to them, also, and
306
they invited me to come down for an interview. It ended up in a job offer
with Lockheed Aircrafta. That's the advice that Booz, Allen, & Hamilton
gave me. They said, "You're sitting in the catbird seat, with people like
that supporting you.a" I now realize what political influence can do.
[Well, you had a good background in aeronautical matters anyway.]
Twenty-seven years as a naval aviator.
One day I received a phone call from an official of the Exide
Division of the Electric Storage Battery Company in Philadelphia. He had
been my brothera's roommate at the Naval Academy and was a good friend of
mine. I'd sent his company a copy of my resume. He asked me to come to
Philadelphia for an interview, and while there, I was offered a job to
form a Missile battery unit within the Exide division of Electric Storage
Battery Company. The salary was considerably less than some other offers I
had hada, but I was to be given a year-end bonus based on the company
earnings. I accepted on the spot.
I had received another offer to ma.nage the Washington office of the
largest photographic company in the country with plush office spaces and
many fringes at a salary almost twice or a third greater than the one I
took. But I felt that if I took that job I would be used for the
influence I might have in the Bureau of Aeronauticsa, which was their best
customera. I did not want to get into a situation of a conflict of
interest, so I turned it down.
[And you turned down Lockheed?]
I turned Lockheed down because it involved personnel work and I felt
there was more security in the job in Philadelphia than there was in the
job at M3.rietta, Georgia. They made that offer by telephone. They paid
my way down, and after I got home, they called me up.
307
After accepting the job with Electric Storage Battery Companya, which
was the largest and oldest battery company in the world, I decided to put
my home up for salea. It was bought by a naval officer friend who had
quarters next door to me at the Naval Air Station in Patuxent Rivera,
Marylanda.
In 1956 everything was in readiness, so Bette and I went to
Philadelphia to look for a house. Toe first house we saw was in the area
where Bette was born and raised. We liked it, so we bought it on the spot
even though it hadna't been quite completeda. We had to wait about two
months before it was completed.
By August our house had been completed in Philadelphia and my
association with Exide began. It was a pleasant one and lasted ten years,
at the expiration of which, I again requested an early retirement because
of new illness in my family. I was, however, told that if I would stay on
until age sixty-five I would be given another job with increased
responsibility and an increase in salary. It was very tempting, but I did
not feel I could do it.
In 1959, my company bought out a small battery business in Raleigh,
North Carolinaa, from American M3.chinery and Foundry, Inc.a, and decided to
transfer the small unit I headed up to Raleigh and combine it with the new
battery business they had bought out doing a similar line of work. It was
designated the Missile Battery Division of Electric Storage Battery
Company which is now Missile Batteries, ESB. I was transferred to
Raleigh. Again we went house hunting and bought on first sight the house
which we now live in.
One night in August, 1959, after we'd been here for three months, I
received a telephone call. It was Western Union. Toe message was from
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8
the Secretary of the Navy inviting me to attend the funeral of Fleet
Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.a. The funeral was to be held at the
Washington Cathedral with internment in Arlington National Cemetery. The
next day I flew to Washington and checked in at the Army-Navy Club of
which I was a membera. The next morninga, I received a telephone call from
a naval officer who said he had been assigned as my escort and asked when
and where I would like to be picked up for the funeral. An official car
had been placed at my disposal with driver and escort for the day.
Shortly thereaftera, I was in the lobby of the club and ran into
Admiral Felix Stumpa. I have mentioned his name before as being my squadron
commander and the fact that we flew off the cruiser and were catapulted
togethera. It was an Observation Squadron that he commanded. He had
flown in from Pearl Harbor for the funerala. He was Commander in Chief,
Pacific Fleet, with four stars. He invited me to accompany him in his car
to the Admirala's funerala. I thanked him but declined since I had already
made plans with my escort officer for pick up and I didna't know how to
reach him. The Washington Cathedral on Massachusetts Avenue was filled
even though the ceremony was by invitation only. The official cars in the
funeral procession were numerousa. They were Navy cars called in from
miles arounda. The line was backed up from the entrance of Arlington
National Cemetery to the Lincoln Memorial. It stopped for several minutes,
at timesa. People got out of the cars and started visiting one another.
At the burial sight I chatted briefly with Admiral Nimitz and he remarked,
"This will be the last fleet admiral who will ever be buried in Arlington
National Cemetery." He planned to be buried on the West Coast. He was
then the last living fleet admiral, five stars--a rank that had been
created by a special act of Congress.
30
9
This narrative was started at the request of Mr. Donald R. Lennon,
the Director of the East Carolina University Manuscript Collection, where
my official papers are being held. Since the principle purpose of these
oral narratives was to record the intimate association I had with Admiral
Halsey for six yearsa, this seems to be an appropriate place to end them.
A few months ago I received a letter from I'-1r. E.B. Potter of
Annapolis, Maryland. He is Historian Emeritus at the U.S. Naval Academy
and had completed a biography of Admiral Nimitz. He is now researching
for a similar biography on Admiral Halsey. He asked me for an interview.
Before that interview he went to ECU at Greenvillea, North Carolina and
read all old interviews except this one. He then came to Raleigh and
interviewed me to fill in some gaps. The biography will be entitled
Halsey. It will be completed soon. It is gratifying to me to have been
able to make some small contribution to the memory of that great leader
and great American, Fleet Admiral William Fredrick Halsey, Jr.