Adventure on the High Seas

USS McCawley - World War II Troopship
Not the one Lou was on, but probably very similar

After a 30-day leave in Pueblo, I went back to Seattle, Washington [more about the time in Seattle later] and shipped out on an old Kaiser Troop ship which at one time had broken in half and had been welded back together and put back into use.

Because of the fear of being attacked by Japanese planes and submarines, we had to keep all lights covered so we could not be seen at night. This means that all hatches (doors) and all other openings which might let out light had to be secured. It cut back on the ventilation in the holds where we were bunked. It was so crowded with soldiers and sailors going to Anchorage, Alaska or out to the Aleutian Islands, that the air was very foul smelling. The fact that many of us were seasick from the ship rolling and tossing because we were going up the coastline rather than really out to sea was the cause.

The welcoming view . . .

I was seasick the full 14 days and very glad when we finally arrived at Adak. The ship rolled so badly that we had to stand up for our meals. I spent most of my time in my bunk, which was one of 14 high, or up on deck to get some fresh air when we were allowed to go topside. After the first day, I only ate the fruit I could get.

Adak's newest crew member

When we first got there, the crew was just eight men. They really hated to see us arrive, because now the base would be much larger and much of the informality and comfortable things would change. They were used to being able to just go into the kitchen and cook whatever they wanted from the stockroom and so the food was great. We brought cooks and other non-radiomen with us, which meant more rules and regulations. However, it was still pretty loose, with no inspections for months at a time, and we were pretty much left alone to just do our job.

Lou in the wildflowers - 1945

In about late June, the tundra grass came live with wild flowers which were very pretty and a very welcome sight after seeing nothing but brown, dried tundra grass and snow and mud since we got there. There were no trees to be seen anywhere. We also saw the salmon come up a very small creek to spawn. They had to go on top of the rocks and sand much of the time to get upstream. We had salmon steaks in the hut once.