William enlisted in the U.S.Navy and was inducted on May 26,
1943 at the age of 17. He states that he always liked the water and that he had
rather sleep in a bed than on the ground in a foxhole!
After basic training that included learning electronics, switchboards
and panels. He also was taught how to take care of the ships boilers, a very
important and sometimes hazardous duty. Soon William went by train to Orange,
Texas where he boarded a new ship, the U.S.S. Finch which was a destroyer
escort.
The Finch was launched from on August 28, 1943 in Orange,
Texas. The ship was named in honor of Lieutenant Joseph W.Finch who died on
November 13, 1942 on the U.S.S. Laffey that was sunk off the Solomon Islands.
William served in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific
oceans while serving on the Finch. He remembers how the ship dropped depth
charges near Gibraltar at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea while protecting
American oil tankers from German U-boats. Another memory is when the Finch rode
out the famous typhoon in the Pacific that sunk and damaged many ships
resulting in the deaths of officers and sailors.
The Finch was in operation from August 28, 1943 to March 6,
1947. During this time the Finch has the distinction of entering a total of 63
ports around the world! The ship also escorted more than 18 convoys keeping
enemy aircraft and submarines at bay.
After the surrender of the Japanese in September 1945, the Finch
was ordered to the island of Formosa (now Taiwan) where she loaded Allied POW’s
that had been imprisoned on that island. Some prisoners had been on that island
since the war began.
William was discharged from the Navy on December 15, 1945
with the rank of EM2C.
The Finch was later de-commissioned by the Navy but was re-commissioned
as a Coast Guard ship.
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