Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Roland L. Thomas, Chief Petty Officer, United States Navy, 1940 – 1970
The Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.
In 1940, Roland L. Thomas (Roland) and his buddy went to see the US Navy recruiter in Springfield, Mass. Both were given the dates for their physical examinations and soon, both were enlisted. The buddy went to the US Marine Corps, Roland went to the Navy.
Roland went to “boot camp” at Newport, Rhode Island. He arrived by bus and was greeted warmly by the NCOs at the reception station. The usual things happen right away at this stage: haircut, clothing issue, another physical examination, paperwork, learning where one is going to live, and where one eats.
In the Navy, new terms arise. A wall is a bulkhead. The place to eat is a galley. The restroom is a head. A door is a hatch. When one leaves, he/she gets underway. In “boot camp”, there are sections of training that must be completed. Drill and Ceremonies, marching, physical training, first aid, rifle marksmanship, and in this case, swimming.
Roland liked the marching and other subjects. He and the others learned to march with, carry and maintain the M-1 rifle, but they didn’t shoot it. Roland said that while in the Navy 30 years, he never fired a gun.
The training lasted six weeks. WWII was looming so the training was cut back to get more people ready. The next stop along the way was advanced training to become a Machinist’s Mate. This training was at Great Lakes Naval Training Center just outside Chicago. This was just a four week school to learn the various positions used in keeping a ship moving.
From there, he was sent to the Ford Motor Company at Dearborn, Mich., where, he worked every machine available making parts out of steel. They assembled parts for cars. Roland suffered a severe cut while working on a shaper. The wrench he was working with slipped off the nut. The pressure caused his hand to get in contact with the bare edge of steel. This was a four month training piece; his longest since enlisting.
Orders arrived toward the end of the work and Roland was sent to a ship: the USS Perry DMS 17. The USS Perry was at Pearl Harbor. Roland rode a troop train to San Diego, CA. Next, a troop ship took the men to Hawaii and to Pearl Harbor. The men in charge of the new personnel on the troop ship kept the young men very busy lest they get the idea it was a cruise!
Finally, he arrived at the USS Perry. As to be expected, Roland was shown the important places for the next part of his life. He found out where his bunk was; where the galley was; where he would be working. The USS Perry DMS 17 was a Destroyer Mine Sweeper. The Navy pulled the torpedo capacity out of it and installed mine sweeping equipment. On 1 July 1941, she departed San Diego to escort the USS Arizona to Pearl Harbor. There was work to do aboard the Perry. One job was mess cooking, other branches call it KP duty. For three months, this was his job. It paid an extra $30.00 per month. He was paid $21.00 wages. With the two incomes together, Roland considered himself rich!
Activity aboard the Perry was strong. The men practiced gunnery. They practiced mine sweeping, and towed targets so other ships could do shooting exercises. The Perry was in war games with the Southern Fleet for the entire month of November 1941. They returned to Pearl Harbor on 1 Dec 1941. Roland was still on mess cooking duty when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
Roland’s battle station assignment was in the after-ammunition hold. During the attack, Roland passed ammunition out to whoever needed it. He was part of a crew that linked .50 cal and .30 cal bullets to be fired from machine guns. He figured the person who wrote “Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition” had him in mind.
Right after the air raid, the Perry and many others were ordered to get out of the Harbor so the enemy wouldn’t have such a big target. As things cooled, the Perry was ordered back into the Harbor to sweep it for mines and unexploded ordinance (UXO). The men aboard the Perry were told to not look at the carnage all around them, but “how could you help it”. He saw bodies floating in the waters, ships burning, ammunition cooking off, and the race to bring back calm. The Perry was credited with shooting down an enemy aircraft. Patrol duties kept the Perry around the Pearl Harbor area for six months.
The Perry joined the 5th Fleet for the Marshall Islands campaign. She did many escort assignments and swept several harbors for a year. In September 1944, the Perry had joined the 7th Fleet. On the 12th of the month, while sweeping for mines off Pelelieu, a mine explosion destroyed her Port sweep gear. The men were able to fix the damage and got back into the fight. The next afternoon, the ship hit another mine amidships. All steam to her main engines was lost and the forward fireroom was demolished and flooded. Roland was a fireman in this engine room. He had just left the fireroom and was headed for his bunk. Quickly, the Captain of the ship ordered it abandoned. Nine lives were lost. In two hours, the ship broke in two and sank into forty fathoms of water. Survivors were picked up by other ships in the area.
Roland got the opportunity to take 30 days survivors leave and returned to the States. During this time, he married the woman he had been writing letters with. Further, he was assigned shore duty for several months at many different installations. He decided to leave the Navy and try civilian life. The Navy allowed members who departed 60 days should they change their minds and want back in. Roland came back in.
He had been assigned the USS Stribling DD867. One stop was at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD. She picked up a large number of Midshipmen and took them through several war games and exercises to give them experience.
Roland made several tours to the Mediterranean. They cross-trained with ships from other Countries. He was transferred to the USS Grand Canyon (AD 28), where he served for five years.
He was then assigned to the USS Zellers DD-777. He was promoted to Chief on this ship. The ships men performed underwater training and did exercises of survival tactics.
After having served sixteen years at sea, Roland began looking at his options. A re-enlistment was due soon so he looked into getting shore duty. He re-upped and was sent to Great Lakes Naval Training Station where he was a Chief Training NCO. His work was the equivalent of the Drill Sergeant. No flat brown hat but a red, braided roping worn on the left shoulder. He trained twelve different companies of young sailors. A training cycle lasted nine weeks each. Roland liked this work.
Roland had great memories of work done in the Bering Sea and near the Aleutian Islands. The destroyer was sent out to rescue a commercial ship that had missed its mark by a ways and had become stuck on a rock not real far from shore. At this point, Roland’s ship’s food stores were nearly depleted and really needed re-supplied but they went to rescue the ship in peril. Part of the communications with the troubled ship included the mention of a need for food. The commercial ship had plenty of food. Roland’s ship get very busy with the rescue efforts and all ate well for quite some time!
Among his awards were the American Defense, American Theater, Asiatic Pacific medal with 7 battle stars. The Good Conduct Medal with 5 stars, the Victory Medal, the Navy Expeditionary Medal, and many others. Roland has his Chief’s Uniform still. He has instructed family members to make sure he is buried in it.
You did a great job over thirty years, Chief Roland Thomas! Thanks for your service!