Veteran's History Project - William L. Tooley

William L. Tooley

Seaman

U.S. Navy

1948-1953

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.

William L. "Bill" Tooley had worked for his father during his high school years. He had traveled eastern Nebraska and western Iowa as a member of the construction crew. After leaving school, he wanted to get into the military and remembered an uncle who was a recruiter for the U.S. Navy. The uncle – "Chief" (a revered Navy rate) – was assigned to the Scottsbluff recruiting office.

In not much time, Bill had passed the physical examination, completed some paperwork and in two weeks, was ready to board the train to San Diego – with several of his new best friends.

On arrival at the train depot, a Navy bus was there to pick up the new trainees, and they were delivered to the Navy Training Center at San Diego. At the base, Bill contracted a sore throat. This was somewhat mysterious, since he had rarely had such an illness. And, it was not good to go to sick call in the Navy. They considered it a sign of weakness and almost always, the ones who went, not only missed training, but got extra duty as well. So, the problem lasted about 13 weeks.

The new guys got off the buses and found themselves on a yellow-painted set of footprints. The trainees were to get on the prints and not move until told to do so. After being provided information about the next few hours in their lives, the men were marched to a building now called "barracks." There were double-decker bunks evenly spaced on each side of the big room. There was a door way at one end that lead to a "head" – another Navy term for restroom.

Soon the men were loudly directed to get out of the building and form up outside. They headed to another big building and formed into a long single file line. This is called the clothing issue point (CIP). They were handed a sea bag and told to move along the long tables holding the sea bag open while men put their initial issue of gear and clothing in the bag. Amazingly, it all fit.

Once issued their clothing, the men were again assembled up into a formation and marched back to the barracks where they plopped it next to their assigned bunks. Then lthey were oudly directed outside to another formation and marched to the dining facility, or mess hall. Their first meal was chicken. Based on the size of the serving, he thought it was something like the crows flying around outside. It was good food.

The next day, they were taught how to secure their new clothing – such as how to roll it up, how to display it and how to use it. They had no wall lockers and had to keep their items in a sea bag. It adds to the flavor of the day to dig through one's sea bag to find the socks they would need. The men were also schooled on how to use the washer and dryer. All washed clothes had to be done in a particular order.

Their leader was a First Class Petty Officer who answered to a Chief (Chief Thompson). The uniform of the day was dungeries – a light denim material with their names, etc. ready to go. The trainees were then schooled on physical fitness, rifle marksmanship, customs and courtesies, firing the five- and eight-inch guns and learning how to maintain them. There was training on putting out fires in buildings as well. All useful stuff. An interesting piece of training with the rifle was learning how to shoot in a prone position, a sitting position and a standing position. There was no foxhole training – there aren't foxholes aboard a ship.

Bill liked the Navy just fine. He got along well with almost every one. There was plenty to do. At one point, early on, the leader asked for a show of hands as to who was experienced in driving a truck. Hands went up in the air. Most of these volunteers became wheelbarrow operators. Bill learned from his Dad that volunteering wasn't a good idea.

Bill's pay was $79 per month. He was paid cash in the pay process. The men had to line up alphabetically, and when it was your turn, you presented yourself to the pay officer with your name and service number – which Bill still remembers.

Finally, with no big obstacles, Bill and his group graduated. Assignments were given out. Bill was to be sent to a heavy cruiser named the U.S.S. Albany #123. He rode the train across the country to Norfolk, Va., where the ship was at port. He was assigned to this vessel for about two years.

As a recent graduate from basic training, he became a "hey you." Anytime someone with more rank than he had could tell him and others what to do. They did plenty of painting, cleaning and other chores as needed.

He volunteered for galley duty. When in this mode, he ate well. When serving meals, servers had carts with canisters containing the meal. They loaded them on a cart and made their way to tables to hand out the food. There were about 1,300 men assigned to this ship.

The U.S.S. Albany was a part of a carrier group – involving an aircraft carrier and lots of protective vessels. The group went to the Mediterranean Sea for six months with stops at Naples, Athens, Nice, etc. It was on several other major departures as well.

Word came out that there was a need for five men to go to Panama to help support a radio transmission installation. It would be a place of high elevation in Panama where radio signals could be passed on to U.S. forces. These small bases have a role in security and intelligence gathering. The manpower includes about 20 men plus a small squad of Marines used for protection.

While at this base, Bill had a horse to take care of and actually acquired a small monkey. The horse was in the racing business for the locals. The horse people were going to kill the horse because it was too old to race. Bill and a Marine buddy asked for the horse and the locals gave it to them!

For work, he supervised local labor workers to complete all tasks of maintenance and upkeep. Bill also worked extra as a bartender. He also was promoted and his pay was raised to $109 per month.

Bill had a good time with the monkey he had caught. It was a fine camp pet and actually used by the base command to entertain children. Sadly, the monkey met an untimely death.

After two years, his assignment ended. Orders came that were to confirm the tour's end. Bills group was returned to the U.S. on a merchant ship that sailed east around Florida to New York City. He did collect a bigger amount of leave pay because he never took time away from his assignment.

Good job, Seaman Tooley! Thank you for your service!