A common thread among some U.S. Navy veterans was that they
would rather sail in the Navy, then walk in the Army. So it was with Jack, he
didn’t want to wait to be drafted, so he enlisted in the Navy on April 29, 1944
at the age of 17.
Upon completion of basic raining, Jack was assigned to two
ships during his service in the Navy. One was the LST (Landing Ship Tank)-801.
The other was the U.S.S. Sherburne which was classified as an Attack Transport.
The Sherburne and the LST-801 both received one battle star
for their service in World War II. The Sherburne was involved in the landing of
troops at Ulithi and Guam. Later, on May 1, 1945 she arrived off Okinawa with Army
troops slated to land on that island. Because of bad weather and attacks by
Japanese kamikazes, the landing was postponed for a time but eventually it was
mission accomplished.
In the summer of 1945 the Sherburne was busy taking troops
from San Francisco to the Philippine Islands. The ship was in this area when
the Japanese surrendered in 1945. Jack had the rank of Yeoman 3rd
Class while in service with these ships.
The Sherburne had an interesting after war story. She was
put in mothballs soon after the war ended until 1969 when she became a “range
tracking vessel” for the Navy. She had this duty during the 1970’s but
eventually put out of service again. She was not sold for scrap until November
2012. The LST-801 was sold to the Argentine Navy after the war where she was
renamed.
Jack received the WWII Victory medal, American Campaign
medal, Asiatic-Pacific medal with 1 battle star and the Philippine Liberation
medal.
He was discharged from the Navy on April 22, 1946.
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