On Oct. 25th we were still at Saipan. A tug was waiting for orders to sail with our Net Tender group. A boyhood friend of mine, Vernon Useldinger, was on a CVE (Baby flat top aircraft carrier) that pulled in while we were there. I sent a message addressed to him, on the blinker lights. The signalman on the CVE acknowledged and said, "Guess what, Vernon is standing along side of me". I received permission from the Captain to have Pete Miranda take me over in our motor launch. A CVE is a small carrier, but when I went aboard I thought it was a huge ship compared to our little Net Tender. Vernon later became the State Department Adjutant of the American Legion for North Dakota.
On November 5th we were a day out of Midway. We had rough seas from Saipan. We were in a storm that lasted for two days. Most of the ex-battleship passengers were seasick. One, a signalman from Brooklyn, was in his bunk for four days. We were short a signalman in our crew, but he wasn't much help to us. One passenger made the remark that the sail ships of Columbus and Magellan must have ridden like our Net Tenders.
It was a detour going via Midway to Pearl Harbor, but some of the ships were running low on fuel. Several Net Tenders broke down, but were able to get going again. The weary engines were getting tired. Some of these ships had been out here for a long time. The constant forward and reverse movements which had to be made while salvaging the huge Ulithi net line was also a strain on the engines.
On. Nov. 12th we were a day out of Pearl Harbor. Another Net Tender had broke down coming out of Midway, so this delayed us another day. So far our ship was trouble free.
We had our uniforms all pressed for liberty when we arrived at Pearl Harbor Nov. 13th. We were docked in a quiet area away from the main Naval Base. A nice USO in a former large living house was nearby. We were warned to go in groups when going on liberty. Young civilian hoodlums had been ganging up on sailors traveling alone or in pairs by beating or knifing them.
On Nov. 16th we left Pearl Harbor. Our Net Tender group would be split up going to two destinations: San Francisco and San Diego. Our ship had orders for San Diego.
A number of men from our ship were eligible for discharge upon arrival at San Diego. Most of them had their lockers empty and seabags packed a day before our arrival there on November 25th. It had been 43 days since we left Ulithi.
Upon docking at San Diego we were surprised to be welcomed back to the states by a car with loudspeakers playing music for us. Some girls with the car served us doughnuts and milk.

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo