Guam liberators

[Ray Merrell]

We got aboard the U.S. ATS Pennat August 28, 1944. The first night out a lot of us slept topside in the cool. The next morning the shoes of Milton Bankhead from Oakland, California were found.

They had roll call and he didn't show up. The ship radioed back to Guam for a search plane. He was spotted and picked up the next day. He had fallen over with his life jacket on and had been in the water about 20 hours. His eyes were sunburned, and he was water-soaked. He was in the hospital four to six weeks. He returned to our company and was in on the Invasion of Okinawa with us.

On the ship I thought of home constantly; I sure got lonesome. it sounded good when Helen told me in her letters about feeding the chickens and walking around the farm, it was impossible to write on the ship. We slept topside because of the heat. We took salt water showers, but we did get enough fresh water to brush our teeth and shave.

.......from my book.

Gung Ho,

Ray

[Ray Merrell]