thedrifter
08-13-07, 07:19 AM
Shipmates put forces on beach during WWII
By MEG JONES
mjones@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 12, 2007
Any sailor will tell you that it's not good to beach a ship or run aground.
But during World War II, ships were built just for that purpose to quickly move men and equipment into battle on Pacific islands. And the sailors who operated those amphibious assault ships often had to withstand withering fire to get their vessels to shore so Marines and soldiers could fight.
Called Landing Ship, Medium (LSM) and Landing Ship, Medium Rocket (LSMR), the watercraft were integral to the Allies' victory in the Pacific. Though just about every one of the more than 500 LSMs and LSMRs has been consigned to scrap heaps, many of the sailors who served on them will be in Milwaukee next week for a reunion.
About 400 people are expected to attend the USS LSM-LSMR Association's convention Wednesday through Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee.
Among them is Gene Scholler, who served as the gunnery, communications and supply officer on LSM 312, which took part in the battles of Lingayen Gulf on the Philippine island of Luzon and Okinawa. Scholler was a freshman Marquette Naval ROTC student when Pearl Harbor was attacked - he remembers hearing the announcement while listening to a Packers-Bears game on the radio - and within three years he was aboard the flat-keeled ship known for its bumpy ride.
LSMs and LSMRs were used at landings in the battles of Iwo Jima, Bataan, Corregidor, Borneo and Leyte, among others. Commanders had to contend with tides, choppy waters and submerged coral reefs along with kamikaze pilots.
Often the 203-foot LSMs picked up men and cargo - which included tanks, jeeps, artillery, trucks and other equipment - from a base and traveled to the battle site. They were also used to ferry equipment, supplies and soldiers from a larger ship to islands and then carry wounded back to hospital ships.
The LSM crews sometimes got to know the Marines and soldiers who spent days on their amphibious ships before assaulting the beaches.
"I had a (guilty) feeling a couple times when I was leaving the tanks and soldiers behind or a little negative that I was heading back out to sea. A feeling like, 'We're leaving you to do more work while we're backing out for a comparatively calmer situation,' " said Scholler, 84, who lives in Brookfield.
"When I saw some of those soldiers later, I was surprised to learn they thought we were the brave ones for being out at sea."
When Irving Koren enlisted in the Navy in 1942, the 19-year-old Waupaca man had never heard of LSMs or LSMRs. That's because they didn't exist. Built for the invasion of Japan, the first of the amphibious assault ships splashed into water at shipyards in Houston and Charleston, S.C., in 1943.
Koren was the cook on LSM 52 and later transferred to LSM 139, taking part in seven invasions, including Leyte, Corregidor, Bataan and Lingayen Gulf.
"At Corregidor we got marooned on the beach, and the Japanese were shooting .50-caliber machine guns from the caves down on our ship. We had some wounded from shrapnel," said Koren, 85, who lives in Eden. "I remember dogfights of airplanes and shooting at planes. It was pretty exciting. Of course we were quite young."
Scholler was happy to get assigned to an LSM because after a couple of years at Marquette reading newspaper accounts of battles, he just wanted to go to war and it didn't matter which type of ship. Sadly, Scholler's college roommate and Naval ROTC classmate Robert Blanz was killed when a mortar hit his LSM at the battle of Lingayen Gulf.
The crews of the LSMs and LSMRs were preparing to invade Japan when atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No longer needed, LSM crews returned home, and the amphibious assault ships were torn up for scrap or sold to other countries.
"They did what they set out to do," Scholler said. "I'd say that that little ship performed beautifully."
Ellie
By MEG JONES
mjones@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 12, 2007
Any sailor will tell you that it's not good to beach a ship or run aground.
But during World War II, ships were built just for that purpose to quickly move men and equipment into battle on Pacific islands. And the sailors who operated those amphibious assault ships often had to withstand withering fire to get their vessels to shore so Marines and soldiers could fight.
Called Landing Ship, Medium (LSM) and Landing Ship, Medium Rocket (LSMR), the watercraft were integral to the Allies' victory in the Pacific. Though just about every one of the more than 500 LSMs and LSMRs has been consigned to scrap heaps, many of the sailors who served on them will be in Milwaukee next week for a reunion.
About 400 people are expected to attend the USS LSM-LSMR Association's convention Wednesday through Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee.
Among them is Gene Scholler, who served as the gunnery, communications and supply officer on LSM 312, which took part in the battles of Lingayen Gulf on the Philippine island of Luzon and Okinawa. Scholler was a freshman Marquette Naval ROTC student when Pearl Harbor was attacked - he remembers hearing the announcement while listening to a Packers-Bears game on the radio - and within three years he was aboard the flat-keeled ship known for its bumpy ride.
LSMs and LSMRs were used at landings in the battles of Iwo Jima, Bataan, Corregidor, Borneo and Leyte, among others. Commanders had to contend with tides, choppy waters and submerged coral reefs along with kamikaze pilots.
Often the 203-foot LSMs picked up men and cargo - which included tanks, jeeps, artillery, trucks and other equipment - from a base and traveled to the battle site. They were also used to ferry equipment, supplies and soldiers from a larger ship to islands and then carry wounded back to hospital ships.
The LSM crews sometimes got to know the Marines and soldiers who spent days on their amphibious ships before assaulting the beaches.
"I had a (guilty) feeling a couple times when I was leaving the tanks and soldiers behind or a little negative that I was heading back out to sea. A feeling like, 'We're leaving you to do more work while we're backing out for a comparatively calmer situation,' " said Scholler, 84, who lives in Brookfield.
"When I saw some of those soldiers later, I was surprised to learn they thought we were the brave ones for being out at sea."
When Irving Koren enlisted in the Navy in 1942, the 19-year-old Waupaca man had never heard of LSMs or LSMRs. That's because they didn't exist. Built for the invasion of Japan, the first of the amphibious assault ships splashed into water at shipyards in Houston and Charleston, S.C., in 1943.
Koren was the cook on LSM 52 and later transferred to LSM 139, taking part in seven invasions, including Leyte, Corregidor, Bataan and Lingayen Gulf.
"At Corregidor we got marooned on the beach, and the Japanese were shooting .50-caliber machine guns from the caves down on our ship. We had some wounded from shrapnel," said Koren, 85, who lives in Eden. "I remember dogfights of airplanes and shooting at planes. It was pretty exciting. Of course we were quite young."
Scholler was happy to get assigned to an LSM because after a couple of years at Marquette reading newspaper accounts of battles, he just wanted to go to war and it didn't matter which type of ship. Sadly, Scholler's college roommate and Naval ROTC classmate Robert Blanz was killed when a mortar hit his LSM at the battle of Lingayen Gulf.
The crews of the LSMs and LSMRs were preparing to invade Japan when atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No longer needed, LSM crews returned home, and the amphibious assault ships were torn up for scrap or sold to other countries.
"They did what they set out to do," Scholler said. "I'd say that that little ship performed beautifully."
Ellie