Saturday, 13 October 1945, 11:00 AM
Dearest
Eleanor,
Now I'm all squared away and comfy
with nothing to do. Well what could be
better than a visit with you? So here
goes.
Now that all is calm and secure I'll
try to give you a blow by blow description of the storm. Since the typhoon on September 16, we had
several warnings about typhoons heading for Okinawa. Each the storms veered south and missed us
completely. This last one was supposed
to pass way south of us, but instead it veered north and we were right in the
middle of it again. I've lost track of
time but I believe it was 4:00 AM Monday morning when our special sea detail
alarm went off. Our buoy chain had
broken and all that was holding us was a 1-1/2 inch wire cable. All we could do was wait and pray for the
cable to hold. The sea was too rough to
try to secure a new chain or wire to the buoy.
At about 10:00 AM the wire snapped. We were adrift at the mercy of the
sea and winds which reached somewhere around 125 knots velocity. Although our propeller was broken, we got our
engine started and tried to maneuver the ship so we wouldn't hit anything. We
didn't. However the ship was getting out
of control so the skipper decided to beach her.
He did a beautiful job of bringing her in. We beached at about 11:00 AM. Suddenly the wind caught the stern of the
ship and swung her around so that the sea and wind were hitting us broadside
and rolling the ship from side to side with the jagged reef giving the hull a
terrific beating. The holds began to
flood so we decided to abandon ship. Dr.
Bushyager and I got our medical records together and prepared to go over. Life rafts were lowered. Then we went over the side down a manila line
into the rafts. The sea was washing over
the rafts and we had to hang on or be washed adrift. Anyway we finally got ashore. Each officer took a group of men with him and
went to find shelter. We found a large Quonset
hut that was a mess hall and got some hot food and coffee. Just as we were sitting down the roof began
to fly off. We had to get out fast. There was lots of corrugated steel flying
around, so we headed for the hills to find shelter. We found a place in front of a native burial
tomb and though it was wet we were protected from the wind so we stayed
there. It was beginning to get dark and
the storm was abating, so I left the men and went back to the mess hall to see
if it would be safe to return there for shelter. It was. There we spent the night, cold and wet but
protected from the elements.
The next morning we headed back down
the road to the ship and ran into other groups of men. We were directed to the temporary quarters
assigned to us. After I had left the
ship, several other vessels had been blown against us. A depth charge from a PCS (Patrol Craft
Sweeper) had gone off and blew our stern off.
One officer had his leg badly mangled and it had to be amputated. Another had a badly fractured leg which he'll
probably lose. In addition we had a
skull fracture case and many minor injuries and bruises. We were plenty lucky not to have suffered any
loss of life. Many lives were lost in
the storm.
Shore facilities were demolished. I saw a fifty foot long Quonset hut picked up
by the wind and carried along as if superman was supporting it in the palm of
his hand. Then it was set down on its
end and collapsed like an accordion.
Complete camps were blown away. At
the present time, the food and clothing situation on the island is very
critical.
The camp where we are billeted at is
up in the hills. Tree growth and shrubs are abundant. Here the mud and dust are
at a minimum. The locale reminds me of
Lake Arrowhead. Clean, dry clothes and
shoes have been issued to all of us. Now
all we have to do is wait for orders to a ship and then home.
The local camp's laundry was wrecked
in the storm. Because we have few
clothes, arrangements have been made with the natives to do our laundry daily
in exchange for food and clothing they need.
All in all I am happy and feel very fortunate that we all came out so
well and I hope it won't be long before we are on our way home.
Goodbye for now and please don't worry
about me.
Love,
Gil
P.S. The Red Cross is really on the ball. Just as we got settled last night, they came
over with shaving gear, cigarettes, writing paper, tooth brushes and paste, etc.
Newspaper articles
Undated article from the Santa Monica Evening Outlook--Identical to an article above
Burial tomb similar to one where Gil took shelter
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