The above picture has the entire crew on deck for photo op.
By: Chris Nersinger
Tags: Veterans, Vintage, Creative Writing, World War II, Pop Culture

The above picture has the entire crew on deck for photo op. My dad is sitting up on top of the battery/gun..that was the biggest and he was assigned as the gunner and the cook.

A tribute to all who served with my pops on the USS Admiral H.T.Mayo AP-125-WWII

A tribute to all who served with my pops on the USS Mayo -

This crew saw and lived through some very close calls and many ops took place under the cover of darkness- dropping off and picking up small squads for commando missions. Several times having to out maneuver subs.

Above — (circa 1947 )this is the ship my dad served on during WWII , but was refitted at the end of 1946 and became of the Army as a transport ship primarily in the Pacific.

I wanted to share this photo … the USS Mayo. This was my dad’s ship during World War II … The ship itself was a part of the US Coast Guard. In fact WWII was the last time that the Coast Guard was part of the military. He was the head cook and a gunner. So you did not want to get him mad . Since he was making your food and food for another 699 mouths….

Below- this was an invite to the commissioning of the USS Mayo on the 26th of April,1945

The USS Mayo was a unique ship with a unique crew- Made up of one commanding officer- plus a small division of US Marines,Army & Navy. It was manned by Coast Guard personnel and seamen, along with the Public Health Service( a full functioning hospital was contained aboard.

Left- A “complete” history of the USS Mayo, it’s construction(ht, width etc)and an overview of it’s duties and missions during WWII.

The ship itself was built in California by Bethlehem Steel Corp.

Some vintage ads that appeared in various magazines and establishments.

Below as you can see some of the ads may have been aimed at the service men..considering that this is pretty close to a pin up. And they were popular.

Here we have Paulette Goddard advertising Royal Crown Cola=RC for short.

**Goddard starred in two of the best Horror comedies-The Cat and the Canary and The Ghost Breakers both co-starring Bob Hope.

Left- who knew one of the duties as a sailor was battling germs as well ….an ad for Listerine Antiseptic

A newsreel theater — 35 cents a seat. Remember there was no Television-not at all like today… no 24 hr let alone a nightly 6 pm newscast. People went to the theater or read the newspaper to keep up with what was happening locally and around the world.

Cinema goers were being treated to some light and leavening performances to keep their minds off the war…below Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore belt out a fun Zoot suit song in a film that is primarily about a couple of “Joes” who just enlisted in the service and no body does quirky characters better than Kaye. Here they both are in a clip from Up In Arms ( 1944)

Above — Boston Blackie’s Rendezvous- part of the 14 films in the series for Columbia Pictures. These were a very popular type of B-Movie coming in around usually 60 mins-all with Chester Morris(academy nominated) . He also reprise-ed his role on the Radio series as well. They were full of fun.mystery and a few shocks and surprises. Perfect escapism for the public.

This a video clip tribute to Boston Blackie- a popular film franchise that starred Chester Morris as a reformed thief who helps solve crimes usually ones he is suspected of committing in the first place. There were two that premiered at the box-office the year of 1945

See this full list of films 1945-

What we were jamming to on the radio and at the ice cream parlor…

I hope the above vintage ads and the Music has given you a little window on what it was like in 1945…

My pop came aboard in May of 1945 just after the USS Mayo had been commissioned. He had tried two times prior to enlist in the Coast Guard but to no avail being that he was under age both times. The ID did not fool .. you see the gang he used to hand around were a little older and had all enlisted.

Left- on shoe leave in France

The first month or so was spent transport men who had been prisoners of war in Europe/Germany back home to the states. so a fairly uneventful first seasoning for all the new recruits. making it probably easier to get their “sea legs” A couple of trips across the Atlantic will do just that.

And knowing how life is- you just never know who you are going to meet or serve with… He had the pleasure of sharing the open sea right in the heart of the Pacific Theater with actor Victor Mature(Chief Petty Officer). So how cool is that, the mighty Samson was watching over them… and the neat thing is Victor was just a regular guy…😎😇

Left — insert for Kiss of Death featuring a very menacing Richard Widmark. Making Victor look even more the hero.Which he had no problem doing. Directed by the great Henry Hathaway.

Left-Victor Mature on shore leave… One of those times while on shore leave in New York City landed Victor in a big fight with Caesar Romero(Joker-Batman 1966)…But that is another story… What I will say about Victor Mature is that he was a regular guy. Although he held the position of Chief Petty Officer he most himself when spending time with the enlisted men. Victor actually invited my dad and several others to his ranch out in California- to take place after they all got back from the service. Now not everyone was able to go. But it was the fact that Victor offered and was sincere.

Somethings I can tell you that did occur during that time spent in Pacific were some of the most nail biting and dangerous times for the crew and their”cargo”….Troops-commando units-midnight runs… dropping and picking up special details. Involving departures to small islands and coves/lagoons. Either gathering information about the Japanese movements and locations throughout the region. These fact finding missions were under stealth conditions, secret and need to know. It also involved maintaining complete radio silence until that particular assignment was over. Another was as a Sub-Chaser. In fact my dad indicated that there were several times when the Mayo was being chased themselves. The tables being turned.. but none the less.The Mayo coming out on top or out running their would be pursuers.

Below: three of my dads best friends on board — from left to right- Chuck, Al and Tony.

Now all this cloak and dagger was mixed with regular troop transport also. Especially as the war in the Pacific was changing and the Allies were able to advance and the Japanese were falling back towards their homeland.

During all this my dad had acquired a pet bird-a parrot. The bird was living in a locker next to his. He was one a few who a 2nd locker because of his double duties as a gunner and cook. Now the parrot was not regulations which for my dad to break those policies was not usual. The crew took a liking the parrot. But this was kept hush hush. The parrot was named Polly believe it or not. Polly could talk and liked most everyone. However there was one “wise “ guy who liked to antagonize Polly. My dad had warned this guy many times to leave the parrot alone. You see Polly could very easily defend herself. Well the inevitable happened. One night while the Mayo was docked and my pops was out on shore leave with a bunch of his buddies Mr Wise Guy showed up and wondered down to where my dads locker and gear was stowed. Wanting to show off his “bird” handling skills which all he manged to do was rile Polly.. in the encounter Polly bit the guys nose and proceeded to fly and squawk up a storm. My dad was summoned back to the ship .. by some of the crew thank goodness. He was able to calm Polly and Mr Wiseguy did not fare so well. My dad a was scrappy little guy, but he had a good right. A good thing because Wiseguy had pulled out his 45 and was going to shoot Polly. Whew!!! This does have a ending because after all the feathers were done falling Polly was still alive. Thank the lord. As for Wiseguy I can say that he never bothered anyone again. Te crew was not happy and he decided to curtail his shenanigans. It also meant goodbye to Polly. So on the next port of call my pop made sure she had a good home and possibly a return to the wild…

A major event that brought the Mayo, it’s crew and many other allied ships together happened towards the end of the war. a message was sent to all the ships and their commanders stating the invasion of Japan. This would be the last major offensive of WWII. The tide had already turned in Europe and Germany had surrendered. Japan was not about to. There were hundreds of vessels gathering off the coast of Japan … loaded with far too many troops to count in addition to the tremendous fire power. This may have turned out to be another Normandy. But what was at risk was 1000s of lives on both sides. And what could have been another couple of years. The Japanese were dug in. And fierce opponents. As plans were being worked out and calculated. This to determine right time to strike with tensions mounting among the all the inevitable and need less to say unpreventable happened.

A major typhoon came out of nowhere with barely enough warning to get all the ships out of harms way.

Left — Footage of a typhoon that battered the US Navy during the days of WWII- This is the USS Pittsburgh being pummeled by massive waves. The entire fleet everything from battleships to cruisers to destroyers experienced damage and were in need of repairs.This newsreel provides you an idea what might have happened had the task force stuck around.

The typhoon drove the task force out to sea. There to wait out it’s wrath. All the while contemplating the return to the positions all the ships had held prior to. The initial thought was to move swiftly after the storm past. This would give the Allies the element of surprise. It was never to happen.

The invasion that had been planned so well was canceled. President Truman had made the decision along with the rest of the Allied command to bomb Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Unleashing the Atomic Age. For good or for bad. What had transgressed prior was an unnerving 10 days . The sea boiled, frothy. with immensely high waves and turbulent waters. My dad is no picnic-even for the sailors who were the seasoned vets aboard. So having gone through this prior to the invasion would they have been ready.. and more than likely many casualties would have been the result.

Among all the events that did occur during WWII you hardly ever hear anything mentioned about this time period. A time that was not at all certain for it’s possible outcome..

Below- My pops at home after being discharged in 1946- one of the happy endings of that era…

so this is more than just a salute to those who served with my dad but to all have served period .. we owe a debt of gratitude to those individuals… officers, enlisted personnel…men & women alike not only during the trying times, a war or what may have an action… but right now those who are there at a beckons call when they are needed. The people of the all branches of service. Thank you for keeping us safe at all times. And providing a peace of mind for when it is necessary to heed the call of duty…Happy Veterans Day!!!!

Thanks to all of the crew and a happy Veterans Day…

😎🙏

Below —

more info on the USS Admiral H.T. Mayo including some of the daily newsletters/News paper that was distributed on board the ship and was prepared.written and edited right there on the spot.

It consisted of information directly affecting the crew & pertaining to such things as to when payday was that week, what was happening back home and around the globe.

Left-

Or how about for you folks at home-a day in the life of the USS Mayo or any other run of the mill military ship.

For example — The mayo travels at 25 mph-at that time the entire population of Las Vegas could fit on board. 5,000 lbs of ham to provide a meal in one day and for breakfast — 14,760 eggs and all morning to crack them..scrambled is a favorite among the crew…

Next door-

One such article was directly from the very popular and The Sporting News publisher himself- J.G Taylor Spink-as he would go on to wish everyone on board and the ship itself nothing but the best. As well as providing 250 copies of the Overseas edition of Sporting News throughout their voyages. And that the crew had been adopted by the town where the publication resided. There actually were several of the local residents as part of the USS Mayo crew.