Veteran's history project

Editor’s Note: This story is one of many American Veteran accounts published in the Sidney Sun-Telegraph. The writer, who is from Potter, is conducting the interviews as part of the Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project.

Richard Anderson is a resident of the Nebraska Veteran’s Home in Scottsbluff. He served in the US Navy during World War II, primarily in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

Anderson enlisted in the US Navy when he was 18, after graduating from High School in the Detroit, Michigan area. Many of his friends and relatives served in other branches of the US military. He liked to be around water, however, and selected the Navy. After passing the entry physical and other testing, he was on his way to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center near Chicago.

In no time, Anderson had obtained the required special haircut and uniform. The Drill Master was a solid man. He wasn’t too big, but he was plenty tough.

Anderson recalled that one of his fellow recruits had irritated the Drill Master. The Drill Master grabbed the man’s sea bag full of clothes and threw them into a shower. He then handed the recruit a tooth brush and soap and told him to clean his clothes.

Still, Anderson liked being in the Navy. He kept his head down and was focused, learning how to be a sailor.

He said they were putting the young enlistees through pretty fast and he was out of boot camp in a few months. The next trip was on a train to Amphibious Training at Norfolk, Virginia. While he and others were in this phase of training, a ship was nearing the final stages of readiness and would be waiting for his group near Pittsburgh.

The builders from the Dravo Corporation and Navy launched the ship from its platforms, and watched it slide into the Ohio River in January 1945. In one six week period, 15 of these ships were built there. This particular ship was the USS LST 1040. (Landing Ship –Tanks). Its purpose was to carry men and equipment into combat.

There were 105 men on the crew. There was plenty of room to live and eat. Anderson and his new shipmates rode this ship from Pittsburgh down the Ohio River, to the Mississippi River. It entered the Gulf of Mexico and sailed into the Caribbean. The men were aboard when it passed through the Panama Canal and moved out into the Pacific Ocean.

Anderson got sick his one and only time when they were on the Ohio River.

They went to Hawaii to on-load Marines and trucks and other equipment and soon left for Okinawa. Upon arriving at their first port, the unloading process was easy as this ship could just move close to the land and open its front gates. Once open, a ramp lowered itself down to the sand and the load was shifted to ground operations.

Anderson became a stores keeper. This work called for making sure ingredients were supplied to the galley and that they were inventoried properly. Of course, the new person drew a little good natured hazing at first. He delivered an item to the cooks, who then said that that wasn’t right. Carrying it back to the storage and bringing back another was done manually - no elevator, no cart. After the third time, he told them to go get the right one themselves.

The hazing lightened up.

Things went well - most of the time. The Navy didn’t fully explain what they were to do when they sailed into a typhoon. The LST wasn’t a heavy vessel even with a full load. Typhoons could last days, with torrential rain, wind and rough seas. They endured three of them. He likened it to a cork floating around.

When he had time off, Anderson read as much as he could. He wrote home using V-mail and the mail service was good. His sleeping area was in a room of bunks stacked four high. His “rack” was his—he didn’t have to share it with some other sailor when he wasn’t using it. The pay was short of $50 a month. Their clothes had to be secured in a locker or a tied down sea bag.

They did get into various ports of call. The sailors had to stick together for their own good. There were no long breaks off the ship.

The LST 1040 was not hit by enemy fire and there were no combat casualties. Anderson said that he enjoyed the duty at sea. When the command “general quarters” was announced, he rushed to the assigned 20mm gun pod and stood ready.

The crew of USS LST 1040 learned that the war with Japan ended in early August 1945. At Okinawa, he and they guys were on the top deck. They were watching a film. All of a sudden, the big guns from other ships began firing. Soon the surrender would be signed.

The men aboard this LST had to stay behind and continue to move men and equipment around the area. Those who had been in the theater of war longer got to return to the States sooner.

Eventually the LST was staged in the Okinawa area and her crew transferred to troop carrier, the USS Buckner. It took the men to San Francisco. He received his back pay and money for a train ticket to Detroit.

Once he had his feet back on the ground and had recovered from his Navy service, Anderson used the GI Bill to furtherhis education. His Mother encouraged him to get back into school. Soon after college, he entered seminary and graduated a Pastor. He worked for years in schools and churches.

He found the love of his life and a new life developed…as did his five chldren. He was able to keep in touch with some of his fellow sailors. After a while, the bonds of friendship stayed strong, but life and other commitments took precedence.

Should readers wish, Richard would surely appreciate a card. He lives at 1102 W. 42ndScottsbluff, NE 69361.