Smyrna times., 1944-02-24
D
Our Boys and Girls
in the Service
David c. Harrison Post, No. IA,
American Legion, and Unit of the
American Legion Auxiliary.
Goat Island

Goat Island
San Francisco, California
Hello Pal:
Well, I guess you are surprised
to hear from me again. It's been
quite some time since last wrote
you. I have at last moved from
San Diego, and am now located
close to San Francisco, California.
Or rather, I am stationed on Goat
Island. This is small island stu
ated in San Francisco Bay. Right
now I am awaiting to be assigned
to a permanent station.
For the whole thirteen months
that I have been in the u. S. Navy,
I have been going from one place
to the other. 1t was Newport for
boot" training, and from there on.
Now it's off to sea for me, perhaps
For the duration.
During my training period I
have had rather a varied course.
After spending the necessary
period in learning things about
torpedoes, was sent to an adj
vanced school for four months.
Following this went to still an
other school to learn things about
the aerial torpedo. From there I
went into a work shop for another
couple of months to get line on
the workings of the submarine tor
pedo.
1 / do not receive an assign
nnent to ship then perhaps will
be stationed on some island in the
South Pacific where there is a base
for submarines or P. T. boats: per-
haps both. Right at the moment
really do not know what kind of
an assignment will receive. Being
an old salt yourself I don't have to
explain to you about the way
things work at a Receiving Station.
could draw a detail on a big Flat
Top, like "Bill" Melvin did, or it
could just as wei lbe Destroyer,
Destroyer Tender, A D. E. boat, or
what have you. Your guess would
be just about as good as my own.
They have so many sailors here
from all over the u. S. A. that they
had to find additional housing ia
cilities for them. Sometimes we
run into number of the Boys who
have been out in the Pacific, from
Australia to the Aleutians, for per-
iods ranging from twelve to twen-
ty months without ever hitting the
good old u. S. A. After hearing
some of the fellows talking about
what they have seen or done, you
really feel like killing all the strik
srs and rabble-rousers left here in
this country. 1 was talking with
;5ne torpedoman who was serving
ou destroyer out in the Pacific.
He told me about the time his out
fit used all the torpedoes they could
find. For thirty hours they loaded
fire" in the tubes, then went about
finding Japs to fire them at. Did
he stop in the middle of this bit of
action and ask for Second Glass
rating? 1 guess not-he was a
real American. wish some of the
people back home could see some
of these fellows and hear their
stories. They would certainly stop
belly-aching.
The weather here in Frisco is
very different from that of San
Diego. While 1 was stationed down
there the weather was like June
back home. Up here it is like
March and April. First it's real
nice and warm and then it's cold
and rainy. Most everyone I talk
with has cold. However, they are
like all the rest of the people here
in California, there is no other
state in the U. S. A. except this
one" They have all sorts of ex-
cuses to offer about their weather.
Mostly it is to the effect, "this is
an unusually bad season" To this
I always reply "that I like the
good ole seasons like we have back
in the East. Now 1 suppose it's
nice and cold and snowy. At least
that's the way it should be about
now
I hope that will get few days
shore leave-time enough to make
a trip back home-before 1 report
to my new assignment. If 1 don't,
q think the orangeade at "Shap's"
Nor whatever it is now will get