Thursday, December 16, 2010

More

Would like to have additional information or hear from anyone who either served on the
Mitch or sailed on her. She is gone now, sold for scrap.

I am in the process of getting some prints of film taken in 1954, entering Yokohama and the harbor
there. I was taken back a bit, by all the debris, still evident, from WWII. after all, the war had only been
over for 10 years. I was in awe, seeing ruins and remnants of the war, that had been such a major part
of my growing up years. I graduated from high school in 1950.

January 22,2006 - Received an Email from Mark Kingston,who served on the Mitchell from 1954 to 1957.
Great to hear from him, and he added some links that brought tears to my eyes.
http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/22114.htm
http://www.multied.com/navy/ap/General%20William%20Mitchell.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/dafs/AP/ap114.html
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/WEBCUTTERS/G_Mitchell.html
http://1stbattalion3rdmarines.com/uss-mitchell/

Me and the Billy Mitch

I went aboard the Mitchell in 1954. Not sure of the month, but I think in the late summer or Fall of '54. We
arrived in Seattle in a Nash Ambassador, how it made it from San Diego is a miracle. I reported aboard her,
for some reason, around 9 or 10 in the evening. I remember my first impression was how large she was. (622'
7") I remember I felt relieved, "as big as she is, we'll always have smooth sailing."

Wrong, as soon as she left the dock you could feel the swells. The ocean is BIG .. in comparison, the ship was
small.

I was first assigned as a Chaplains Assistant. Let me go back a little. My previous duty had been in San Diego,
at the Receiving Station, in the Discipline Office. I did a 30 day TAD, Shore Patrol, Tijuana Border. One day,
I was asked (? - told) to participate in the purchase of pornographic material at a small news stand in Tijuana. I
got marked money from the Chief of Police in Tijuana. I went in, made my purchase, left, and the police
arrested the owner.

A day or so later, apparently, they realized that it was a rather large operation, and that it would be better if I
did not appear in court. So, I got a late night transfer to the Mitchell. The Mitchell was shipping out the next
day, and they did not need me aboard ship. That is why I became the Chaplains Assistant. Ship's Company had
no openings.

After some transfers, I worked in the Personnel Office, and was the Ships Dairy Yeoman. That was a lot of
fun. The last thing to leave the ship, had to be accurate, troop count, Ship's Company count, etc., neatly done,
wrapped and ready for the Pilot, or whoever, to see that it got mailed. I generally handed it to the Pilot as he
left the ship. On some occasions, I would throw it to someone on the dock, who knew to mail it. Had a few
close calls. Always a lot of last minute transfers, some no-shows, troop miscounts, etc. It generally got a little
nerve racking. "Dairy Yeoman to the QUARTERDECK." I knew I was in trouble. The ship DID NOT sail if
the Dairy was not ashore, and that always upset the "old man."

My first was Captain R. J. West,