Watts, Don, BMCM

Other Memories
I was assigned to Acorn 14 which was a Unit consisting of Seabees, Mechanics, Radio and Air Controllers, Cooks and Supply people in short all manner of skills needed to sustain a beachhead.
After several days of steady steaming we joined a convoy coming from the south west, destination still unknown but we knew it was an invasion.
Tarawa in the Gilbert Island, British possession before Singapore, cost our country many lives to capture. The island was heavily fortified ?the whole island was a completely circled underground fortification. Many Amtracks ,Ducks and Higgins Boats were lost. The outer islands had to be swept for the rest of the Japanese hiding from the main onslaught. One lone Japanese bomber turned up every night for about ten days, we called him Washing Machine Charlie. He killed a tent mate of Acorn 14 with a Daisy Cutter. That sailor did not make it to the trenches. and our tent was demolished.
On my return to Pearl I was assigned to the USS Ash a Net Tender in Harbor Defense Unit. Shortly after this the ASH, a ship that was equipped with high velocity and fire monitors. If I recall they could put out thousands o f gallons a minute fighting fire.
If we did not have lines secured to the vessel we were fighting the water pressure would push us away from the burning vessel. West Loch had a big fire, history is now able to recount this, and munitions were exploding all over the place. During the process of putting out burning fuel and ammunition I sustained a steel splinter in my right eye. The Corpsman at Bishops Point deftly extracted this later but I looked like a one-eyed pirate for some days after. That HMC 1/c saved my eyesight.