|
World War II ship overdid it when ordering
toilet paper
By Bill Whitaker
Normally, hurricane-force winds would be required to blow the
crew of World War II Navy commander Jim Conlan into Abilene.
So how come they actually met in this town of devout West Texas
landlubbers last weekend?
Jim Conlan, of course.
"He got me home," former crew member Lawrence Veley,
72, of Ellisburg, N.Y., told me when I asked about his old ship
commander. "You know, there are a lot of guys who never made
it back home."
Certainly, bonds were formed during the war-torn years Jim
Conlan ran a Navy transport ship. Those bonds have held fast,
too, judging from the dozen or so crew members who passed up a
bigger Navy convention elsewhere to come to Abilene to fete their
ailing commander.
"He was always a human being," 73-year-old Elbert
Sawley of Jacksonville, Fla., told me. "He didn't let those
bars stand up on his shoulder."
For his part, former Commander Conlan was pretty proud. Although
his health has been uncertain the past few years, he rallied long
enough to mount a party Friday night at the Petroleum Club, overlooking
the city he is proud to call home.
Jim's wish: "I wanted to show my crew off to Abilene,
however many of them might come, and I wanted to show Abilene
off to my crew."
SEA BISCUITS, ANYONE?
Sure enough, Friday's gathering, high above Abilene, included
many of Jim's local friends, including author and oilman Keith
Wells, a former Marine who rode to such terrible places as Iwo
Jima aboard Navy transport ships like the USS LST-120 that Commander
Conlan oversaw.
While the ship's crew saw little of the combat men such as
Keith Wells did, transport ships did often get fired upon.
"This was a blooded ship," Jim said, recalling sea
missions that took his ship to some of the most war-ravaged islands
in the Pacific. "We've been fired at and we've buried a bunch
of good guys at sea. We saw the war at its worst."
Friday night, though, Jim Conlan and his men preferred to talk
about other memories of those days, including the rather strange
bakery built aboard the commander's ship by some terribly bored
Seabees.
Why strange?
"Well, we were the only LST that went out to Guadalcanal
with a bakery aboard it," Jim said. "We not only baked
for our own ship but any other ship -- cookies, cakes, bread.
I guess that's really what we became famous for!
"Another ship might come up alongside our ship for diesel
and they had always been told to ask what baked goods we had.
We made friends and influenced people that way. Of course, they
finally made us take that bakery off because it was against Navy
regulations."
The LST-120 had more going for it than fresh baked goods. Because
toilet paper was in short supply and the supply officer routinely
ordered far more than was needed, he was surprised one day when
10,000 rolls of toilet paper were delivered to the ship.
To hear them tell it, Commander Conlan's ship had more toilet
paper than any other in World War II.
"The supply officer was stuffing it in gun turrets, we
had so much," Bob Ransom recalled.
THE WOMEN ARE HERE
Some of the men also recalled Jim's passion for playing the
trumpet.
"Once in a while, he'd play at night," Lawrence Veley
said, recalling the sound of Commander Conlan's trumpet cascading
off the waves of the Pacific. "He was kind of a loner, but
that was because he had to be above the officers and above us."
The old commander preferred to let his men do most of the talking
Friday night and they didn't disappoint him. However, Jim Conlan
did make a few remarks, including launching into a brief speech
about the evils of women in warfare.
"There's no place for 'em in the military," the old
commander told his men. "It's kill or be killed, and I like
women too much to have 'em killed.
"Of course," he added, "we don't want 'em trained
to be killers, either!"
Then, from the bar, a tipsy voice cried out: "You're too
late, buddy!"
Send a Letter to the Editor about This
Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address)
of This Story to A Friend:
Copyright ©1996 or
1997, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps. Publications
|