In the coming months and years he may reconsider his assertion that “7 day a week [stateside] guard duty is about as tough a job as you can find.” He may even long for the good old days in the MP unit in Oakland.
It’s very interesting to see that the rookie-veteran dynamic existed even between units that hadn’t seen any combat yet.
I just finished scanning thru my Dad’s old letters he had written to my yet-to-be Mom.
He wrote her religiously & almost daily once he joined the Coast Guard on April 7, 1942. In his letter he wrote on Sept 7, 1942 he stated he was “about to spend his first night aboard his ship” — (USS Arthur Middleton).
After that letter there is a large time gap - the next letter I can locate is dated Feb 12,1943.
I can only presume during that gap his ship & crew went thru some serious sea drills before his ship & others headed for the Aleutian campaign in early January 1943.
I know he & his crew went thru a terrible ordeal between those dates, but he doesnt write of them - maybe due to censors? His ship hit rocks off of Amchitka & got a hole knocked in it. The captain of the ship ordered everyone to abandon ship.
I asked my Dad about that event and he told me he, “doesnt remember anything.” I’m sure it was more than a traumatic experience for a country boy who never learned to swim to have to jump into the icy waters of the north Pacific. The next thing he remembers is being at Dutch Harbor with most of his crew.
I know the Middleton was eventually patched up and towed back to Washington state before my Dad eventually rejoined her & his crew and a new captain....
My Dad’s letters to my Mom didnt speak much in detail about the war experiences. I’m thinking he didnt want to get her too worried...i dunno.