Dad's Boat

 

A few years ago I became interested in a WWII aircraft carrier based fighter squadron named VC-81. I began to read about the veterans that are still alive who actually served aboard the aircraft carrier CVE-62, the USS Natoma Bay. They have a reunion every year. There are five or six of the pilots and crewmen still alive. Their stories and memories are fascinating.

 

It made me think of my Dad’s service during WWII. He was a member of the US Army Air Force (now US Air Force) and he served aboard what were known as ‘crash boats’ in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Their mission was to speed to the crash sites of warplanes and rescue the crews before the planes sank. The boats were specialized and built for high speed. They had twin twelve-cylinder Allison engines and they were capable of 30-40 mph.

These islands in Alaska were the only US soil actually occupied by Japanese forces during the war and some of the most viscious fighting occurred there. I worked on Adak several years ago and remnants of the war are still obvious everywhere,

 

As a kid I remember Dad’s service jacket and the unit patch on the chest. It was a duck (like Donald Duck) with a life ring. That was all I could remember about what he did during the war.

  

I started searching for his unit on the internet using only that unit patch as a guide. He called the mascot the “Ruptured Duck” so that’s what I searched for. One afternoon I clicked on a link and that very same unit patch loaded on my screen. It was exactly as I remembered it. I began clicking around the site and found a page that had photos of the various boats. One page had a picture of a boat named the P-510 coupled with the "Ruptured Duck" unit patch. It was the boat used by Dad’s unit. It was his boat!

 

I continued to read about the boat and her crew. I read some of the official reports describing a few of the rescues and the lives Dad helped save. It was amazing. It made me think Dad had really made a difference and maybe at one time he had been an all-right type of guy.

I was able to contact a member of the group Dad served with via email but he didn’t remember Dad (there were many of these boats).

 

I later discovered that the P-510 is still afloat in Newport Beach, California. She is now a dinner cruiser named Dream Maker.

 

My wife was planing a trip to California last summer and she came across one of those special vacation club deals at the Marriott vacation club in Newport Beach. She announced to me one day that we were going to stay there for the last three days of our trip... I couldn't believe it. She didn't know that was where Dad's boat was. I contacted the owners of the boat immediately and they agreed to give me a tour, I made the appointment.

 

We went on our trip as planned and we indeed stayed in Newport Beach for three days. On our first night there we ate at a small restaurant near the boat harbor. I walked outside after we ordered in the hopes of spotting Dream Maker. I didn't see her but somehow I could feel her.

 

The next day was my birthday and I did at last find Dream Maker. Her berth was only yards from the restaurant we had visited. The young lady who escorted us aboard said the boat had been on a cruise the night before.

 

As I toured Dream Maker so many memories of Dad came to mind. As I stood at her wheel I imagined him there, speeding to rescue a downed aircrew. I envisioned Japanese fighters strafing her as her crew fended them of with the .50 cal gun on the rear deck. And I thought of the men whose lives were spared because of the P-510 and her crew. 

 

The original bell from the P-510 still hangs on the bridge. I rang it once more for Dad.

 

 

 

Author's Note

The writing is pretty clunky but the story is good.

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

I'll have to disagree and say that the writing is very good. An especially interesting story to me, since I spent time on Adak, too, and a lot of time on ships. They don't call your dad's generation "the greatest" for nothing.

[Collect-Eye]

that's an absolutely amazing story.

[J]

clunky?? it is magnificent. gosh, d, it brings tears to my eyes. again. what a wonderful story told with your gift for relating history and heart. still a favorite.

and i canna believe it's been 3 years .............. goodness!

[J]

This is the most astonishing chronology ~ a part of your father, still sailing the sea, and yes, "serving" [brilliant, bytheby]. Only the love of a child of his could embark on such a quest. And the reward of standing where he stood all those years ago with such a different intent, a selfless intent, you surely must have felt his spirit ... I canna imagine the honor. A once-in-a-lifetime legacy to savor and pass along, D. Assuredly.

And wow, has she changed. So well disguised. One would never guess her origins. But I can feel the incredulity! How can this be? And there you are!! This just seems to be too much to grasp. How do puzzle pieces fall into place like this?

I simply must have what you're having.

Bravo.
;-) ~j