Growing up I thought all Dads wore green frayed Winter Deck uniform jackets and black shoes to take the garbage out. It wasn’t until we started watching the Vietnam War on TV that I understood that my Dad had served in the military, he NEVER spoke about it! During one newscast, Dad said that he joined the Navy so that he wouldn’t have to “walk” all over Europe. Everything about my Dad’s Naval career I learned from my Mom.
My Dad was in college in Boulder, Colorado when he joined the Navy, he was 21 years old. His Naval career began with the V-12 officer training program and classes in Coronado, California on the Naval Amphibious Base.
Deployment on the USS Darke began in December 1944. The USS Darke was an amphibious assault ship designed to transport 1,500 troops (mainly the 5th Marine Division) and their combat equipment to hostile shores.
My Dad was the commander on an LVCP, a barge like boat whose sides were made of plywood. 36 men would enter the boat by climbing down a cargo net on the sides of the Darke, sometimes in very choppy waters. Upon arrival on the beach, the men exited the boat via a ramp on the bow .
On February 19, 1945 the Darke landed troops for the assault on Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima which means Sulfur Island, was a volcanic island shaped like a pork chop. Iwo Jima was strategic to the war as it would provide an emergency landing strip for crippled B-29’s returning from bombing runs. The capture of Iwo Jima could also serve as a staging facility for the potential invasion of mainland Japan.
My Dad kept a diary during his years as a Naval Officer in WW2. His first entry was October 10, 1944. “The first month in the life of the Darke was spent in shakedown. What a lot of work for the little knowledge gained. The ship when it was commissioned was nothing but a bare skin’.” All of this took place in the Navy Yard in Astoria, Oregon. Sailing the Straits of Juan de Fuca on the way to Seattle, my Dad saw the Olympic Mountains and was reminded of the Tetons. “We left the states December 4, 1944. We came around Diamond Head about five in the afternoon of Dec.10, a most beautiful sight.” The ship moored at Pearl Harbor and my Dad spent his time swimming at Waikiki and enjoying the bar at the Officer’s Club. The Darke and it’s crew spent Christmas 1944 in Maui, performing amphib operations and swimming again.
“Feb. 16 underway for our objective, Iwo Jima. Three days sailing, D-Day is set for the 19th and everyone is primed and ready. 0630 Feb 19 we arrived at Iwo. The sound of naval gunfire blasting the island can be heard for ten miles out. Battleships, cruisers, and destroyers can be seen in near the beach pumping everything they have into enemy fortifications prior to 0900 H. hour. Everyone aboard is tense and nervous. Shortly after 0900 the troops can be seen advancing up the slope from the beach to the airfield on the ridge. The reports are good. Our boats are in the water but we haven’t begun disembarkation since we carry reserve troops. 1200 we debark our troops and form up to hit the beach, I am commander of our third – the ninth reserve – wave. We snake our way through hundreds of LST’s and LSM’s to the line of departure. I hit the beach at 1700 and got back to the ship about 1830. My boat broached and had to be towed off. Lucky there wasn’t any mortar fire where I was, some were in the thick of it. I didn’t carry any casualties back, but there were hundreds. We stayed that night taking on casualties, some 225 in all. They were really a mess, all shot to pieces. The doctors and corpsmen worked furiously all that night and the next two to come. The wardroom was converted into a receiving and operating room. The next day and the next I wasn’t off the ship, in CIC (Combat information Center) much of the time. Lots of our patients died (10 in all) we buried them at sea. We had air raids in the evening, but none of the planes ever got through so our operations were unharrassed by the enemy. On D+5 I took our central boat out. Went into the breach once but that was all. Had an air attack, lots of A-A fire, but very few bombs. Much mortar fire and sniper bullets zinging over the boat. Tends to keep you on the alert. On D+6 we took off our cargo into an LSM. Before this the surf had been too rough to let small boats into the beach, we lost four that way. The troops had gotten practically no supplies until D+6. On the island, advancement was slow and fighting fierce. We controlled “Hot Rocks” , the volcano at the southern end and the flag was flown there on D+5. It has been a hell of a fight and it is far from over yet.”
On April 8, 1945, my Dad once again landed troops on a beach, this time during The Battle for Okinawa.
April 26, 1945 the ship sailed to Saipan to discharge casualties and spent 2 days in quarantine for Typhus Fever.
August 14, 1945, V-J Day, my Dad’s ship is in Subic Bay and the war with Japan is over!
“October 19, 1945. A year since commissioning and we have gone some 41,000 miles. We were riding out a typhoon for our first birthday. November 17, 1945, arrived in San Francisco amid a blaze of glory! The Golden Gate Bridge looks much better going in than going out. Tied up at Fisherman’s Wharf and went on liberty immediately. Had many good drinks and saw as much of S.F. as you can going from bar to bar. Called home to let them know I’m back.”
My Dad returned to Colorado and graduated from law school after the war. He moved home to Casper, Wyoming, he became the City Attorney and had a private practice as an Oil and Gas lawyer. He advocated for the Shoshone Tribe on the Wind River Reservation. He was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Dad loved music, he was on the board and president of the Casper Symphony for many years. Sunday afternoons were spent listening to the Metropolitan Opera on the radio.
The Episcopal Church was a big part of my Dad’s life, he was on the Vestry at St. Stephen’s Church. As Chancellor of the Episcopal Church of Wyoming, he was instrumental in the writing of The New Liturgy at the General Convention in 1967.
My Dad was a very involved parent, he took my siblings and me skiing every weekend in winter, horseback riding near the mountain and swimming at Alcova Lake in the summer. He was at every performance, parent/teacher conference, tennis match, etc.. Cooking was my Dad’s passion, he would come home from work and cook dinner, still in his suit trousers with his tie loosened, shirt sleeves rolled up and apron on. My parents loved to entertain, at Christmas my Dad would make Curry for 100 guests, I still use his recipe, it’s delicious!
My Dad was born and raised in Casper, Wyoming, most of his childhood friends served in WW2. I don’t remember ever hearing any of these men talk about the war. I’ve read my Dad’s journal many times and it makes me cry every time. In his writing , I see my Dad as I knew him but I also see a very young man who wrote matter of factly about a really scary time in his life. I guess I understand why he never talked about it. He always said, “this too shall pass”, and it did.
Kate Emery General is a retired chef/restaurant owner that was born and raised in Casper, Wyoming. Kate loves her grandchildren, knitting and watercolor painting. Kate and her husband , Matt are longtime residents of Cambridge’s West End where they enjoy swimming and bicycling.
Stan Davis says
Very interesting and moving story.
Matt General says
Amazing!!!!