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          I joined the Navy Oct. 8, 1942 and was sent [to] boot camp at Norfolk for a short time. From Norfolk I went to Solomonds, Md. where I was introduced to the amphibious force and training aboard an LCI. It was there where a partial crew was formed and we trained together until late November or early December, 1942.
          Our group was sent together aboard a train to Houston, Texas where we boarded the LCI (L) #341, I think, near the middle of Dec. of 1942. The ship was tied to a pier and ready to go. When we went aboard we met other members of the crew who did not train a[t] Solomonds, and we met our ship's officers. The officers were: Ens. Rolf, (Skipper) ; Ens. Wallen, ( Exec. Officer)and Ens. Boule, Engineering Officer. We went through certain training for a few days and then left Houston for Galveston, Texas. After taking on supplies at Galveston we entered into the Gulf of Mexico for our "shakedown" cruise that lasted about a week. During this time assignments were made for some of the crew members, including me, at which time I was appointed as a G/M striker and assigned to the bow gun, as the pointer, during target practice. When we completed our shakedown we returned to Galveston for a few days for fully loading supplies and other things.
          We left Galveston the first or second week of January, 1943, entering the Gulf of Mexico, running south to the Panama Canal. We joined a big convoy about 2 days before we reached the Canal, and one member of that convoy was the BB Massachusettes. We entered the Canal area and stayed a day or so at Colon. When we left the Canal and entered the Pacific Ocean, we were with some LCIs and tankers, but the BB Mass. was not with us.
          On our way to Sydney, Australia we stopped a Pago Pago (Somoan Is.), Suva (Fiji Isl.) and Noumea, New Caladonia. We arrived in Sydney about the middle of March, 1943. We stayed in Sydney about 30 days after which time we headed north up the east coast of Australia, stopping at Brisbane, Rockhampton and Cairns. We stayed in Cairns a couple of days to take on water and supplies and made our way to Milne Bay, New Guinea which was to be our anchorage for several months.
          Working out of Milne Bay we made several minor landings up th east coast of New Guinea and several small islands out from New Guinea, during the months of May, June and July of 1943. We did not run into any resistance on any of these operations. Around the first of September we left Milne Bay loaded with Australian troops headed (as it turned out to be) for the invasion of Ley, New Guinea, with an escort of nothing but 3 destroyers, as I remember it.
          We were with 12-15 other LCI(L)s and as we approached the landing area we all lined up more or less parallel with each other, about 100 yards apart, and started in for the beach. This was just after daylight and 50 yards out from the beach a big group of Jap Betty Bombers and some Zero Fighters attacked us. Several LCI s were hit, but I did not ever know what damage was done, except to us. We were hit about midship, on the port side, with what I later was told to be a 500 lb. bomb. Our Skipper, Mr. Rolf was killed, as were 12-15 Australian troops, and a hole large enough to drive a pick-up truck through, was torn in the side of the ship. Mr. Wallen, Exec. officer took over and managed to ram our ship on the beach, we dropped the ramps, so the troops could go ashore, and as they did, they carried their dead with them and lined them up on the beach until they could come back to bury them. The Gun Crews manned the guns while others cleaned up the ship the best they could. About noon we had another air attack but the Japs were more after the troops and their supplies rather than for us. After the air raid a ships party was formed to bury the Skipper in the jungle. Toward the middle of the afternoon the Exec. officer gave the order to abandon the ship, the gun crews were still at the guns while others gathered the important files and other valueables. We all went into the jungles and stayed there 2 nights [and] 2 days, as I remember it, during this time the troops had penetrated far into the jungles beyond where we were. We made trips back and forth to the ship for things we needed. On that second day the See Bees came in and welded steel plates over thr holes, pumped out the sea water, and at high tide pulled us off the beach. They towed us to Cairns, Australia where we entered dry dock for repairs and adding of new equipment.
          We were at Cairns several months, and during this time, repairs were made and new equipment as listed was installed. We were converted to a Rocket Ship, so the first new equipment installed was rocket racks, which were welded to the decks on both sides. We could load 480 rockets at one time, but could not fire them all since the heat would warp the deck. Marine Fire Fighting Equipment, Smoke Generators and a Depth Charge Systems were also added. When all of this was completed we headed back to New Guinea.
          We went to Hollandia, New Guinea and joined our sister ships there, sometime during the month of July, 1944. During the months of August and September we made probes near the western areas of the island of New Britian. We left New Guinea sometime in early October with a big group of ships of all types, headed for what turned out to be the iniital invasion of Leyte, Philippines. We were in the last group of ships to bombard the beach, before the troops were to be landed, because the range of the rocket was only 1200 yards. After the original landing, for about 6 weeks, we operated from our assigned anchor spot, within sight of the Tacloban Air Base. Several times during the day we would get calls to lay a smoke screen or fight fires caused by Kamikaze planes. On one occasion we were called out, during the night, to pick up survivors of our ships that had been sunk during battles, off the coast of Samar Island.
          Finally I got a chance to go home on leave. I left the #341, about the middle of December, anchored at our regular spot, never to see her again. I would dearly love to know what happened to her after my time aboard her.
          After my leave I returned to Norfolk where I was assigned to the USS Venango, AKA 82 as part of the original crew, on about Feb., 1 1945. We headed straight for the Panama Canal and was there for the invasion of Okinawa. I transfered off the Venango to The LCI #729, at Honolulu, in June of 1945, and we headed to the Palau Islands where I spent the remainder of my time in the Pacific helping to clean harbors of Japanese mines. The Japanese surrendered in August, but I did not leave the #729 until December of 1945, arriving home in late January of 1946.
          Additional comments: About information I received from your web site, I note it states the new LCI (R) was commissioned July 1945 , this should be July 1944 and under Specifications, I note that you state that there were only two officers, this should state three officers, (I know for a fact that the LCI 341 had 3 officers)
          Thank you very much for the work you are doing. Please let me know if you get this."
Leonard Ruffin G/M

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