From the Sept. 21, 2010, Des Moines (Iowa) Register "World War II shipmates reunite."
September 13-16th, there was a reunion at the Sleep Inn in Pleasant Hill, Iowa, for the LST-49. Out of 130 who served on the football-field-long ship, fewer than 30 remain.
The ship was at the invasion of Normandy. Then, the ship cruised at 10 mph over to Okinawa in the Pacific Ocean and then back to Pearl Harbor. It was going to be a floating post office for the planned invasion of Japan, but the war ended the day it arrived at Pearl.
Larry Palmer, the oldest crew member, shipped home and the ship then went to China.
Keneth Nuckols of Kentucky joined the Navy because he "didn't want to sleep on a fox hole" but says he had problems with some of the men on the ship.
Mike Bishop of Arizona said, "I was funny and I was disliked, and I'll tell you why: I had the key to the water. It was not saltwater; I'd turn the salt water on when I didn't like the guy." The sailors were limited to only three minutes in the shower.
Once, 100 French nurses boarded the ship and the crew learned how to speak French real fast.
I Love These Stories. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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