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Ernest Lyle Secrest
My 1102 Days of W.W. II
Published by Good Press, 2020
EAN 4064066064990
Table of Contents
THE SECOND BATTLE OF BOUGAINVILLE
- AUTOBIOGRAPHY -
I was born on February 4, 1905 in Bedford County, Virginia, near Montvale, attending the one room Goldsberry Grade School three miles from home. On June 1, 1924 I went to work for the Bedford Can Co., Bedford, Virginia, which was acquired by Continental Can Co. in 1929. In 1938 I was transferred to the Tampa, Fla. plant, and in 1960 to the Winter Garden plant, where I retired July 1, 1967.
While with the can companies, I followed the Mechanical and Engineering field, maintaining the canmaking equipment as a Machinist and a Tool and Die Maker. Later I held the position of Machine Shop Foreman, Master Mechanic and Plant Engineer, and for the last 15 years held the position of Manufacturing Engineer. This was continuous service with the exception of three years I spent in the armed forces of World War II.
- CONTENTS -
| PAGE | ||
| I | TRAINING | 1 |
| II | CALIFORNIA BOUND | 4 |
| III | "ISLAND X" HERE WE COME | 6 |
| IV | SO THIS IS "ISLAND X" - FIJI | 8 |
| V | MOVING ON UP - GUADALCANAL | 11 |
| VI | MOVING ON UP - BOUGAINVILLE | 13 |
| VII | THE SECOND BATTLE OF BOUGAINVILLE | 16 |
| VIII | MOVING ON UP - ULITHI | 24 |
| IX | HOMEWARD BOUND | 30 |
| X | REPORTING BACK IN | 34 |
| XI | A FREE MAN | 37 |
TRAINING
I. TRAINING
On 11–1-42, I enlisted in the Navy Seabees as a Machinist Mate First Class Petty Officer, and was called to report for Active Duty at Jacksonville, Florida, 1–11-43, for induction into the service. From there I was taken to Camp Bradford near Norfolk, Virginia, where I went through six weeks of basic training in the 85th Construction Battalion. I was pulled out of this battalion on 2–24-43, along with a number of other experienced men of different trades and sent to Camp Peary near Williamsburg, Virginia, and placed in a replacement center. In a few days we were placed in the 6th Special Battalion which was to serve as a stevadore outfit. The word "Special" meant that we had been selected for our task.
In a very short time we were required to learn cargo handling plus all types of Marine Combat Training. The Marine training us - an N.C.O. - had seen service overseas and was just as tough and mean as they get to be. If there was a mud-hole around, he would see that we got in it before the day was over; we obeyed him as we didn't dare open our mouth. Luckily there were not many mud-holes because the ground was frozen solid most of the time. In addition I had my share of other duties, such as KP, guard duty and policing the grounds, which consisted mostly of picking up cigarette butts. But we had one thing in our favor, no one went hungry as they fed us very well.
One night when the temperature was at zero, Brill - another mate - and I had guard duty from 0200 to 0600 on connecting posts. Brill said he was freezing. I said, "Why don't you put on more clothes?" He replied that he had on all the clothes he owned.
While in replacement we were sleeping in tents and before going to bed I removed only my shoes and put on my coveralls over the clothes I had on, for we were provided with one blanket only. We had a coal stove, but being in a tent it didn't do much good. The cold weather was hard to take after spending the five previous winters in Florida.
The following poem tells what one mate (F. W. Tagtmeier) thought of Camp Peary:
Three months in Camp Peary,
Three months of nerve wracking hell.
I can't say I'm sorry I'm leaving,
I'm ready to travel a spell.