Charles Clayton Fronberg Charles served in the Navy and earned the rank of yeoman third class. He served from June 9, 1945, to July 9, 1946. He received the American Theatre Ribbon and Victory Medal. After boot camp in San Diego, California, he graduated from Yeoman School and then served in the Bureau of Naval Personnel in Arlington, Virginia, until honorably discharged. Charles comments that Ogden was a bustling city during WWII with trainloads of servicemen constantly flowing through our train yards. There were POWs in a camp on 2nd Street. He remembers that the prisoners, under guard, could come to Lester Park on weekends where they watched him play tennis. Maclean Johnson and Russ Bramwell were his tennis friends and never returned from the war, being lost at sea. Jack W. Gibbons A quartermaster in the Navy is involved in all aspects of navigation, keeping the ships log, keeping all navigational charts corrected such as locations of mines, or any navigational dangers, steering the ship, assisting the navigator, making hourly observations of weather for the ships log, and standing watches with the officer of the deck. The following is from the daily diary of Jack W. Gibbons while aboard the USS Lycoming APA-155. The Lycoming is an attack transport, carrying troops and many landing craft for invasions and is attached to the amphibious forces of the Navy. 'March 20 - 24, 1945 - Anchored in San Pedro Bay, Philippine Islands, near Tacloban, Leyte. Got our troops a couple of days ago. A more haggard and rugged lot I've yet to see. All these guys had seen plenty of action all thru the war in the Pacific. They all have a yellow complexion due to quinine (taken for Malaria). The war has left its mark on these men. We'll all soon be plunged into it again. March 25 - 27, 1945 - Preparing for our invasion. Received cargo etc. It looks as though we will soon be on our way for ???? March 27, 1945 1036 - Underway in accordance with CQMTRANSRON 13. Order AI205 45 Standard speed 12 knots 49 RPI. Maneuvering at various courses and speeds to form cruising disposition. Goodbye to Leyte, Philippines. Stood out to sea. March 28 - 31, 1945 - Still at sea, with large convoy. Life aboard a transport is really crowded with all the troops. This invasion is really going to be something when all these convoys merge into one. April 1, 1945 - Greeted Easter with a bang - reveille at 0130. Went into GQ and 1-A (condition red) at 0330 - well this is it, our first invasion. Sighted Okinawa Jima early this morning. What a lot of ships. Everything from battleships to LCVP's. This place is covered with ships as far as can be seen. Saw many planes and saw many shot down. The troops aboard my ship embarked on the ships landing craft called Higgins Boats. We were at 1 -A for all day. Later in the afternoon we moved to inner transport area. We could really see the beach from the ship as we were about 1 1/2 miles off shore. The place was full of shell holes from our bombardment which had been going on a few days prior to the invasion. This evening about 1955 (7:55 p.m.) a suicide (kamikaze) Japanese bomber crashed into the ship off our starboard beam. (The APA-92). What a hole it made into the hull, exposing the entire mess compartment. So far that's the closest we have come to being hit. We had several 'General Quarters' most of the night. Since the troops were debarked from the ship. The crew was instructed to form small groups and occupy various troop compartments for sleeping so there would not be a concentration of crew members in any one of the ships compartments. This was because of information received about small suicide Japanese boats that were ramming into the sides of anchored ships. The boats were loaded with explosives. This night we had one of our landing craft boats patrol around the ship. On orders from COMTASKFOR 51 we made smoke screen. One officer and two enlisted men occupied the patrol boat. The second night being April 2, we got underway and cruised around all night. April 3,1945 - Came back this morning and anchored one mile off Okinawa Jima Beach - LSM's came alongside, we finished unloading. Our battleships continued shelling at frequent intervals. Several fires along the beach and further up in the hills could be seen. 160 Ernest Paul Gilgen Ernest Paul Gilgen was a Navy Seabee and a civil engineer during the war. He was an executive officer of construction in the South Pacific. He became a lieutenant commander and received many medals for his service in the South Pacific, Okinawa, Espiritu Santo and others. Lewis Alfred Gladwell Lou graduated from Weber High School in 1929. There were no jobs to be had so he enlisted in the Army for two years and returned home in 1933. Weber College President Aaron Tracy told his dad that Lou could earn tuition money if he would cover the college news for the Ogden Standard-Examiner. He could take any classes he wanted. He had never considered the idea of being a newspaperman, but it served the purpose of getting a college education. After a year at the college, he was asked to work during summer vacation at the Ogden Standard-Examiner. A reporter died and Lou was asked to take his place. This ended his college days. He enlisted in the Navy in December of 1941. In January, he left for San Diego for training. He was assigned to the gun crew aboard the SS John Hart, a large supply ship operated by the Merchant Marines. He traveled thousands of miles through the Pacific, ports in New Zealand, Australia, and New Guinea. His rank was apprentice seaman at $21.00 a month. In his third year, he attained the rank of petty officer, first class. After nine months at sea, they headed for the Panama Canal. After twelve months at sea, the 55 John Hart arrived at the coast of Virginia. Next duty was in San Francisco. Because he could type he was assigned to the Armed Guard on Treasure Island. He was there for one year. Secretary of the Navy Cox ordered all commands to find out if there were any enlisted men in their jurisdiction who were newspapermen before they joined the Navy. Any sailors with newspaper experience were to be re-rated as enlisted navy correspondents (ENC) and transferred to ships of the fleet. He was ordered to a six-week CincPac (Commander-in-chief Pacific) school in Honolulu and trained for duty aboard ship preparing news releases from ships engaged in battle. The emphasis would be on what the sailors were doing during battle and getting the stories to their hometown newspapers. He was to cover every battle that the ship and task force engaged in. The ships using ENC personnel were in the thick of battle engagement, and they were entering the fourth year of the war. He was assigned to duty aboard the Navy cruiser USS Quincy It was the modern marvel of the fleet with its radar screens and latest equipment. An officer said, 'Its fighting power is tremendous.' The Quincy with a full crew of 1,700 men had first left Yalta, where many officers and government officials had attended the Yalta Conference. Among those aboard the Quincy were President Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin. Lou's ship served in both the 5th and 3rd fleets. His battle station was on the Flying Bridge over the main battery of 12-inch guns. In the summer of 1945, their task force was hit by a terrible typhoon, and he was sure they were going to capsize. In May, they had several kamikaze attacks. One almost made it to the Quincy but was shot down. It was on Lou's birthday August 6, 1945, that the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The Quincy was ordered 161